Tricks of Fate
by shamrock920
Summary: Jack teams up with a young runaway, gets chased by vengeful hunters and still manages to run headlong into Riddick! RiddickJack. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I **

**Jack Finds a Mini-Jack**

The older, wiser and stronger Jack moved like death through the streets, keeping to the shadows and to her strengths. She tried not to think that this shouldn't be how she has to get to her apartment every time she goes outside. Not trusting the usual entrance-way of the door, she walked into the side alley of the crumbling building and looked up the brick wall. Wondering why she had chosen such a high floor, Jack curled her hands into fists, releasing the steel claws that were usually sheathed. She had picked up this pair of bugnucks from her first kill, not long after she had moved from Imam's house back on New Mecca. They served as her favourite weapon, easy to release and even more fun to use.

Locking them in place, she began to climb the wall, not daring to use the fire escape that would probably fall on her the moment she touched it. She easily scaled the building, crumbs of brick falling down past her and dust coating her darkened glasses that she wore. Finding her window she unhooked the blades and swung herself into the open slot in the building, landing noiselessly on the dirty rug. Cleaning wasn't a priority to her. Survival was, regardless of what it left behind. That is what Riddick left her with after he left New Mecca, satisfied that she and Imam were safe.

At her eighteenth birthday it was either move into society or leave and Jack being Jack, took the first flight off of the bright planet. She had eventually landed up here, on this planet with one small sun that shone a brilliant blue, not unlike the one on T2. Since she almost never slept, she never had to think about that experience, her idolization of Riddick and her mourning of Fry. Daytime lasted a scant nine hours and night ruled supreme otherwise. It didn't bother Jack, she had grown accustomed to the dark and didn't even feel the need to get her eyes shined.

With a quiet grunt, Jack pulled herself up into the ceiling, where she had made a hidden loft. It was the only semi-clean place in her small apartment. Hell, she was basically a squatter, no one paid for shit around here. Laying back, she crossed her legs and folded her hands behind her head, looking up at the ceiling only two feet away from her. There, on the decaying structure, was tacked every article and printed piece of information Jack could find on Riddick. She had given up looking for him, but it kept her on her toes to know where he was last sighted. Barely closing her eyes, Jack rested for a moment before she heard a distinct whimper.

Her eyes snapped open behind the dark lenses and she soundlessly rolled off her loft and down onto the floor, looking around her. This was a human whimper, not some abandoned animal. Moreover, it sounded small, not like a wounded adult who was left somewhere to die. Discovering the source of the whimper to be in her 'closet' that she didn't use, Jack approached it silently, cursing to hell whoever was in there. She didn't want to have to look out for some runt that hid in her apartment. The whimpering stopped as she opened the sliding door the closet, letting in more darkness to the already dark closet.

"Get the fuck outta my closet." She said, not realizing she sounded like her once-idol. Gritting her teeth, Jack rolled her eyes and stepped from the closet. "C'mon, I know you're in there. Make this easy and get out of my closet and out of my apartment."

There was no reply and she mumbled a few choice curses, convinced it was some scared girl who had ran away. This made her stop suddenly. That sounded entirely too familiar. Living in a shit place in a shit life and being so scared that you ran away and hid wherever you felt slightly safe. Shaking her head, she hoped the girl would come out soon. Depositing herself on the floor, she sighed and leaned against the opposite wall, directly facing the opening of the closet.

"Alright, I'm going to be right out here waiting for you. I'm going to sharpen my weapons to pass the time, so don't be scared of the noise. Take your time, kid, I've got nowhere to go." Jack reassured the hidden girl before she released the 'claws'. First cleaning them, she got to work sharpening each blade, curving it into a wicked talon then polishing it.

Jack became intent in the work, but still kept a glance out for this scared girl to reveal herself. Sure she could've literally kicked the kid out and reached into the dark closet and dragged her out. But Jack had had such experiences and they were far from pleasant, so she decided to be patient. She was good at doing that. Being patient. She had almost lost track of the years she had spent waiting for Riddick, so she could wait for this girl to crawl from a closet.

Finally she finished and Jack saw that the daylight was breaking in, shining a blue light wherever it could. With a deep breathe, she began to sing softly in a language she didn't know, but the soft praise had always stuck with her.

"Uich gwennen na 'wanath ah na dhín.

An uich gwennen na ringyrn ambar hen.

Boe naid bain gwannathar,

Boe cuil ban firitha.

Boe naer gwannathach."

Her voice sounded ethereal and that of a celestial being when she sang, calming her completely as well as the frightened girl in the closet. As she finished Jack was shocked to find a audience sitting at the opening to her closet. She was more shocked to find that it was no girl, but a young boy, no more then nine years old. He smiled softly at her singing, looking just as entranced as the song itself was.

"May I ask what you were doing in my closet?" She questioned, not approaching the boy but letting him sit where he pleased.

Blue eyes stared back at her, accompanied by long un-cut brown hair that must've grown to his waist. The body was tanned and even muscled, if possible at such a young age. He was obviously on his own, because one only developed muscles like his if they were always on the run and hiding.

"Hiding."

"From?"

"That." He said, gesturing to the window.

"That does not look like something to hide from." Jack noted, wondering if this boy had ever even met his parents.

"No, not that. The outside. The people, they scare me." He said, explaining to her. Jack frowned, her resolve failing to harden. Something about this boy struck a chord within her, probably because he reminded her of herself before T2. At least he wasn't trying to pass a girl.

"Hm. So. Why are you still here?" She questioned, making his eyes dart back from the open window to her face, looking suddenly afraid and hurt.

"I…had to hide."

"I realize that, but what makes you think I'm letting you stay here to hide?" Jack wanted to slap herself for doing this, but she just had to dig a little deeper.

"Because…you…youcan'tjustleavemealoneliketherestofthem." He said in one rush, suddenly terrified that this woman was actually going abandon him. She had seemed so nice before. This confirmed it for Jack.

"What's your name?"

"I…don't have a name." He admitted, looking away. He felt safe with her, but she seemed to give off this aura of hate and anger. He suddenly was stabbed with the guilt of realizing he had just made himself look stupid and weak.

"Well, you should have one." She said, as if not caring that he didn't know it. Although inside she was worried. Not only did she now know what it felt like to feel responsible for another, but that to wander around for your entire life not knowing your identity could've driven him insane.

"Um…"

"Stand up." She ordered, making him clumsily stumble up. He would need work. Walking behind him, knowing she was making him incredibly nervous, she stopped behind him and knelt. "Ever heard of the Romans?"

"No." He replied, turning to look at her. With an unreadable face she stood and motioned for him to follow her. He walked behind her, his head barely reaching her elbow. She stopped at the 'counter' of her 'kitchen' and asked him to get up on the counter. Pulling himself up, he let his legs dangle over the edge.

"Well, every strong boy should know something about the Romans." Jack said and with that, she began to clean him up.

Within hours he was looking better. She had cleaned and trimmed his hair, tying it back with a leather string she had cut from a cuff she used to hold various weapons. Jack had tended to various cuts that had been left open for infection and was glad to see he was generally healthy.

Day in, day out Jack was teaching him Roman history. He listened attentively, never questioning her. He was almost worshipping her when she told him she was going to teach him how to properly fight. Although she wasn't pleased with having a kid tag along with her, she couldn't deny that strange attachment.

Finally his name was decided.

"Marius." Jack called, waiting for him to run in, completely attentive, if not obsessive.

"Huh? Who?" He asked, cautiously walking in, thinking she had called someone else.

"You. Your name is Marius. I'm going out, stay here and don't make noise. Don't wait up for me." She instructed and leaving him slightly puzzled, she disappeared through the window.

He contented himself by going through every move she had taught him, starting with the basics.

As Jack walked down the alley, she wondered how the hell she had taken on an apprentice. He was a complete open threat for her and it wasn't like she would be impassive if something happened to him. She briefly wondered if this was how Riddick felt about her, but she doubted it and picked up pace. Walking during the light hours was safer, but this place was still dangerous.

Keeping her fingers millimeters away from the release of her claws, Jack continued down the street. She wasn't on business tonight, but it was the difference between returning to Marius and tossed in the gutter, body filled with bullets, she preferred to be paranoid. Finding her target, she slipped to the side and with a kick, opened the old door. Closing it behind her, Jack walked in the darkness and finding her destination, knocked. The door opened, revealing an old-fashioned bar.

With a semi-salute to the bartender, she slid into her usual seat, waiting for her drink. Rubbing her forefinger over the polished wood, she sighed. Every week she came here, hoping to hear more on Riddick. It was habit now, and she always stayed a full four hours, whether or not she heard something about him. Now she had Marius to consider, but with her parting words, he could easily be expecting her to return the next morning. With a brief nod of thanks to the bartender, Jack took the shot of icy blue liquid and downed it in one fell swoop. Instead of burning her body like other liquors did, it hit her center in an icy explosion, sending icicles of frozen pleasure to every part of her body.

"So, I hear you're the gal to talk to about a quick and clean disposal?" she heard a voice on her left. Turning, she still held the glass in her hand and looked the owner of the voice over.

A little below average height, shaved head, one blind eye, tattoos covering his body, even his bare scalp. Somehow this bald head turned her stomach and the tinny voice didn't help.

"Maybe. Depends on the pay."

"You seem like the kind of woman who likes a quick escape." Jack's face stiffened slightly but he didn't notice it. "So, you…dispose of this guy for me and I'll give you your own ship." Jack couldn't help her sudden stare and quickly silenced the man.

"Watch what you say. There are people here who would sooner kill themselves for that kind of pay. Who is the guy?"

"Just some asshole who has been pissing me off for a while now. Can you do it?"

Jack briefly mulled over it, wishing her glass were full. She could finally have her own ship, get a way off this shit planet, take Marius and even possibly find Riddick. And what was stopping her from immediately accepting? She wasn't sure at the time, but later as she looked back on the moment, she cursed herself for even replying to this man.

"I'm hired."

"Good. You'll have a ship powered and ready to go when you finish. It's a good one, don't worry." He said, with a raised eyebrow at her glare. "Do it as soon as you can."

With a nod, Jack rose and leaving a few creds on the bar, left her bar. She wasn't in the mood to stay and get possibly pissed drunk. With a slightly lighter step, she decided to scrounge for some food for Marius as a sort of celebration.

(yes do read the note!)

**Note: For those of you who have read and reviewed "Keeping Faith", firstly, thank you. Wasn't expecting that result. I'm testing this and I will finish it. I really meant to have "Keeping Faith" as just a single thing. I'll see how this works and there is a _slight_ chance that KF will continue. Slight. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

**Learning Lessons**

She stopped in mid-stride when she heard her stomach grumble, thinking it was an attack from behind. Smirking, Jack decided that scouting out some food really wasn't a bad idea. Well, it wasn't like she could go grocery shopping. Not here. She would have to go into the 'upscale' part of the planet, and that was about a good hour walk.

There was this long stretch of road in wasteland that connected the two parts. Poverty-stricken and the 'upscale', which really was no different than an average planet's middle class. It was no fun to walk and buying a ride wasn't easy either. So, it was up to Jack to find a way through. There was a last row of building that ended the city, no suburbs, no rolling grasslands, but the final row of decaying buildings. She had hidden herself on the outcropping of one, crouching and waiting for a chance. Seeing it, she burst out and flung herself onto the truck, barely making a noise. Releasing her 'claws', she dug into the roof of the truck and held on.

Jack would never understand why the drivers never heard a full body slam against their truck, but she was content just to hold on and get a free ride. Another thing she liked about this stretch of highway was that there were never traffic jams, which could lead to someone seeing her and calling the cops. She shuddered to think of that possibility. The cops on this planet were worse than mercs, considering they didn't want the filthy scum of the other land on their upper-class grass. Jack snorted at that thought but was glad to be on the side of the wasteland where cops never ventured into. Keeping her eyes locked on the approaching city, she remembered the time a few drunk cops wandered past their safe point.

Those who lived on the poverty-stricken side never banded together, always fighting to survive, but when cops came around, it was a question of survival. She had watched from the roofs as the drunken idiots were herded into a dead-end alley. Nothing short of slaughter had commenced, the cops didn't even have a chance to defend themselves. Jack continued to stay after the murderers left and was slightly disgusted and shocked to see that corpse-looking people came out from the shadows to take flesh from the still-fresh kills. She had vowed not to fall to that and Jack mused that that was why she was sitting on top of this truck, heading towards the better half.

Soon she jumped from the top of the truck, landing into an alley. She didn't need to compose herself as she walked through the streets, watching children play together and their parents hurrying them off when she came too close. Jack hated the feeling of being here, in this fake society, so she quickly entered the market. She was relieved she had her darkened shades with her, so the bright florescent lights didn't blind her. Just as quick as she would kill someone, she picked up the food she and Marius could live of until they escaped with the promised pay of a ship. Throwing it down onto the conveyer belt, she sneered at the man who billed them and put them into a bag. She noted with satisfaction that his hands shook as he took the creds off her cred chip, leaving the change.

"I don't have all day." She snarled, impatient at his slow manner.

"I…I…if you a-a-abuse me I c-can call s-s-security." He stuttered, quickly checking that he had charged the correct amount. Jack laughed in his face as she took the cred chip from his hands.

"Why don't you think about some bladder control lessons then call security, hm?" She mocked, easily smelling the urine that had soaked the leg of his pants.

So maybe shopping for food wasn't all that bad, Jack mused as she left the store, slipping into another alley to put the food in her knapsack. Adjusting the straps, she tied them together in front so the bag wouldn't fall off if she were forced to run. Jack was going to walk back in the street, but she heard the clicks of boots that were issued only to cops and she scaled the building in seconds. Not even bothering to check their direction, she sprinted across each roof, easily crossing the space between the buildings and landing with similar ease on the next roof. Finally she reached the last one and she saw from the corner of her eye an oncoming truck. Picking up her pace she pushed off from the ledge of the roof and with a hiss of metal being unsheathed, Jack locked her claws into the top of the truck. For extra safety, she flattened herself against the top of the truck and hoped for a quick ride.

Soon enough the dark city of thieves and beggars appeared and Jack released her claws and jumped off the side and burst into a sprint, noting the sun was midway in the sky. As she climbed the side of her building, she was thankful not to be able to hear Marius move around in the apartment. He had learned quickly and well, not unlike her. Slipping into the window she was glad to see him going through his movements to the point where he had worked up a sweat.

"That's enough." She ordered. He turned to see her and his blue eyes sparkled with pride. Letting a quiet snort of satisfaction, Jack deposited her bag on the 'counter'. "Wipe yourself down then we'll eat."

With a nod, Marius ran to the bathing room. It wasn't a bathroom, not by any means. There were no working showers that Jack knew of and she had gotten by with strips of cloth dampened in rainwater she caught in buckets. A chunk of soap she had stolen from the bathroom in the bar was hidden behind a removable tile and she and Marius used this to wash their hair.

Jack began to set up the plain meal, cutting strips of the pre-cooked steak and laying them on slices of bread. This wasn't fancy, but she couldn't start a fire, that would draw too much attention. Carefully sealing the rest of the food, she hid that in her loft and waited for Marius to come out. Soon he did, looking excited to eat.

"Thanks, Jack." He said, slowly eating the food. He savored all his moments with her, amazed she had let him stay. She had trained him, fed him, protected him and maybe even cared about him.

"Welcome, Marius. Eat up then I've got to tell you something." She ordered, ignoring the pained flash on his face, as if he thought she was going to abandon him. "No, we're staying together, it's something else." She added, feeling at ease when he graced her with a small smile. Jack had also made a point never to call him 'kid', as Riddick had done to her. It had demoralized her and put her in her place, but she knew that Marius needed none of that. He had been surviving on his own in this hellish world long enough. Jack saw his done eating and eagerly awaited her conversation.

"I've got this job and the payment is a ship. A powered ship, Marius. This is the chance we've been waiting for. We'll get off this shit planet and plan from there." She informed him, carefully watching the amazement turn to suspicion. "Speak up, what are you thinking?"

"Ship for payment? It's translated into 'this person I want you to kill is going to put a huge bounty on your head so I was nice enough to give you a form of escape'." He quickly said, hoping he didn't offend her.

"I thought of that, but I can handle that." She replied, slightly surprised that his mind thought on those terms so quickly. Then again, she had taught him to do so. Yet as she said this, she couldn't push down the doubt that this was too easy. "Are you packed?"

"I have nothing to bring with me, so yes." He confirmed. "You want me to be ready to go, don't you?"

"It's a precaution. Tonight I'm going to get the lot for the ship. You will be on the ship waiting for me because most likely you're right. Get some rest, I'll be up." Her thoughts were disconnected and her speech broken, but Marius didn't want to point it out. He knew something was wrong with this situation, but the ticket for escape was too tempting to give up. Nodding, he ignored the fact the sun was still up and laid down on padding next to the wall and beneath the window. As he watched his mentors calm and controlled manner, he knew that is what he wanted to be when he grew up.

"Good night." He whispered, amazed how her head instantly snapped in his direction. He had barely spoken a breath and she heard him. But he hid all of these emotions as her hardened face relaxed slightly.

"It isn't night, but sleep well." She returned, as if ordering him to sleep. Almost instantly he fell asleep, still alert but knowing Jack was nearby. Jack wasn't watching Marius but as she quietly shuffled papers in her hidden loft, she heard his breathing even to a sleeping pace. Slipping down from the hidden bed in the ceiling, Jack put down on the 'counter' a few objects.

Laying her upper body across the counter, she picked up a pen and smoothed out the paper she was going to write on. Before she did, Jack looked at the other object she had brought down with her. One of Riddick's original shivs that left her with. She had found it tucked away in a corner of her room in Imam's house. At the time it had given her hope that he would return, but soon the shiv just became another tool to train with. Yet now as she looked at it, she knew it had higher meaning to her then she was willing to admit.

Uncapping the pen, she began to scrawl across the paper, her handwriting surprisingly elegant and graceful. As she reached the bottom of the page, she stopped before she signed it, as if waiting for the ink to dry on the paper and in her mind. Folding it, she put it in a pant pocket and the shiv in the waist band of her pants. Tossing the pen back up into her hiding spot, she went to call her client. She had found later that he had slipped his number on a piece of paper into her pocket. Probably the moment when she had been struck with the idea of payment by ship. Seeing that Marius still slept deeply, she went into the next room and closed the door, eyeing the ancient communication structure.

**Thanks to these reviewers:**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed – It might be a Jack/Riddick. **

**ren3017 – Yep, I really was attracted to the idea of Jack being put through what Riddick went through with her. Glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing.**

**Snowgurl54 – I'm glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing.**

**anonymous – Although I've read my fair share of Anne Rice, the name actually came from my knowledge of Roman history, hence why Jack picked out that name. Thanks for reviewing. Yeah, I really do like the name. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

**Speed of Panic**

Sliding to the floor, Jack leaned on the base of the counter, watching Marius sleep from the corner of her eye. His long hair had fallen out of the piece of leather and, at first glance, he could've been mistaken for a girl. He was going to be very strong, this she knew, and perhaps she could even depend on him. She had some six hours of night left and decided she would go out and observe her target before actually doing him in. This would be after she safely put Marius onto their ship.

Getting up, she walked across the room and kneeled down, reaching out a hand to gently shake the young boy. Yet right before she touched him, she was struck with a memory she would've rather kept in the depths of mind.

"_Kid, kid, wake up. We're here." His rumbling voice was accompanied by a none-too-gentle shake to her shoulder. She had been dozing on the floor next to his chair, her head resting on the cold metal. At some point she had felt herself being moved and now woke up to find that her head was on Riddick's thigh. Looking up, she mumbled a greeting at him. _

"_Come again?" He asked, holding out a hand to help her up. She took it and looked out the front window, seeing the bright planet of Helion Prime. _

"_About fucking time, I'm starving." She clarified; secretly glad when he boomed out a laugh. He had become more human then she thought possible over the time they had spent in the skiff. Imam was sitting in the back, thanking his god for the blessing of letting him make it to New Mecca. _

"_C'mon, kid, let's keep the language appropriate for the holy man. Don't want to give him a heart attack from your foul mouth." He replied, making her grin. _

"_But I really am hungry." She insisted, looking at over the controls as if she was going to find a piece of food there. _

"_Whatever, kid. Just don't start eating yourself." He said, preparing the skiff for landing. She smiled again, settling herself next to him for the landing. _

"Marius, wake up." She said harshly, not meaning to be so cold, but the memory that had jarred her consciousness had angered her. He shook awake and looked up at her, yawning as he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"'m up, 'm up. What's the plan?" He asked, pulling his hair back as he sat up. Jack could still see the hurt in his eyes at her cruel awakening, but some things had to be left un-forgiven.

"I'm taking you to the ship. We'll map it together, and then I'm going to go observe the target. No, there is not a 'we' in this, Marius. You're staying on the ship." She added, dashing that look of hope in his eyes. But beneath that there was a grudging understanding, something Jack herself could never find when Riddick left her.

He stood sleepily and vaguely nodded, running a hang through his tangled hair. Jack decided that if she killed the target in his house, she would rummage through it for a hairbrush as well. It wasn't her style to steal as well as kill, but there were necessities that they just didn't have.

'It's all about survival.' She thought as she lifted herself into her hidden resting area in the ceiling. Jack heard Marius move to the bathroom and she began to work, carefully taking out each tack with her nails and laying the article on her stomach. In a few minutes, Jack mused that she had become a tad obsessive, seeing how there was a large stack of paper piling up on her. Taking the last one down, she shuffled them together and slid them into an envelope that held a few credit chips.

Jack was pleased that if anyone would enter, they would never find the spot, but she didn't leave anything behind. Putting the file into the small knapsack she had used night before, she waited for Marius. He came down the hallway looking refreshed, his eyes brighter and more alert.

"C'mon," she said walking towards the window, "let's go." She tossed him the bag, which he caught and put on his own back, approaching the window. Jack slid it open and looked down, glad to see there were no other life forms lurking about. Motioning to Marius, she slid open her metal claws.

She climbed out the window and was facing Marius, who had one eyebrow raised. Gripping onto the sill, she moved her head back and he realized what she meant. Without kicking her in the face, he too crawled out the window and held onto her, his arms wrapping around in front in a way that wouldn't bother her as she climbed. Jack silently released one hand, careful not to slash Marius as she pulled up one his legs around her waist. He got the idea and was now firmly latched onto her back, resting his head on her back.

The extra weight didn't bother her at all as she slowly made her way down, sometimes stopping when Marius tightened his grip. When her feet touched the ground she smiled as the young boy stayed leeched onto her, looking at the ground as if it were covered in the bubonic plague.

'Which it probably is, but I'm not going to think about that,' Jack mentally added, waiting as Marius slid off of her. They walked together, Jack calm and smooth as the night, Marius a little on edge. Jack sensed this, especially when he jumped slightly as a rat skittered across their path. Gritting her teeth, she was forced into another unpleasant memory as they continued.

_They had landed on Helion at night, but the city still glowed with light. This was true, yet Jack hated the night now, especially in cities. It held many horrible encounters for her, and she moved closer to Riddick, who stalked through the back streets. He didn't care that Imam had gone straight to his temple to pray, but only asked, well, demanded for the address of Imam's home. Now they walked and Jack felt the familiar feeling of dread creeping through her. _

_A figure in the shadows moved and Jack unintentionally whimpered, knowing that Riddick had seen the person but had just decided to pass by. All the same, she was surprised when his arm swept her to the other side of him, putting himself between whomever this non-threat was and Jack. His hand rested on Jack's outer shoulder, calming her somewhat. _

"_It's just the streets, kid. What do you have to be afraid of when I'm here?" He asked, his silver eyes glancing down at her. She hadn't looked up to meet his gaze and he was sparked with concern when he felt her tense at his question. "Kid?" _

"_I…nothing, I guess." She replied quietly, feeling like she was on the verge of a breakdown. Every sound and movement her mind processed slashed at her already broken nerves, bringing back one more terrible night she had lived before the crash. She didn't know this, but Riddick saw her in this state and was unsure of what to do. _

_But no words were needed as he took his hand off her shoulder and bent down slightly, scooping her smaller hand in his. There was no way she wasn't taken aback by this gesture, but she tightened her grip on his hand and kept it there all the way to Imam's house. _

Sure, it was different since he was a boy, but she knew that any sort of comfort would settle his jumpy nerves. Sheathing her metal claws, she slipped an arm around his shoulders, pulling the small form closer to her. They were quiet for a few moments, but they kept walking.

"You're not alone." She spoke softly, looking down at him. His eyes stared back up and a small smile graced his feminine features.

"I know." He replied, placing his hand in hers, careful not to trigger the claws. Jack felt comforted by this gesture, which surprised her, it was supposed to be the other way around. As they neared the spaceport, he instinctively drew himself closer to her and she remembered how when they had first met he had been terrified of being left alone with everyone else in the outside world. She lightly gripped his hand as she stayed on the edges of the usual walkway, where only a few night pilots were walking about.

She memorized the ship lot and, as they walked up to it, she was impressed. This wasn't a nothing ship and they could get pretty far; that is, if the power cells were fully charged. Jack approached the ship as if she had always owned it and tapped in the lock security code for the entrance and exit hatch, watching as the ramp hissed down and set on the floor with a light clanging noise.

She went up first and, within minutes, had checked the entire ship for any unwelcome visitors and had found none. Marius had settled himself in the copilot's seat, curiously looking at all the controls, and it seemed he could barely stop himself from touching them. Jack smiled at this as she approached, also seeing that the bag was right beneath his seat, the strap safely looped around the arm of the chair.

"So, we're gonna get out of here?" He asked, looking up at her as she stood directly behind his chair, her hands on his small shoulders.

"Seems that way. You're going to stay here and keep an open radio connection, got it? I don't think I'm going to do him in tonight, but we-"

She was cut off by a waiting call that was signaled by a small flashing light on the side wall of the control panel. Jack motioned for Marius to be quiet as she opened the line, waiting for the caller to speak.

"You've found the payment, I see." She recognized the voice from the bar.

"Yes I have; nice payment, by the way. I was-"

"I want it done tonight. You've got some four or five hours of night left, I want him killed and you off the planet in that time span." He ordered, sounding a little too smug for her tastes.

"You're making this harder, you do realize." She coldly replied, making Marius tense slightly. He hadn't really seen her ever interacting with other humans and he guessed that she wasn't good in the people-person department.

"And you expect extra pay? Do it and get gone." He snapped at her, making her bristle.

"Consider it done." She snarled, killing the connection. "Marius, I want this ship prepped and ready to go the moment I get back."

"Uh...Jack?" He asked as she turned on her heel and began to stalk towards the hatch. She looked back at him with a definite fury. "I don't know shit about flying or prepping. Or ships, for that matter." He spoke frankly and in her anger, Jack still grinned.

"Course you don't. But you don't see me picking up a manual for you at the nearest bookstore, do you? Figure it out, you're smart." And with that, she left the ship, leaving a confused Marius sitting in front of a control panel that to him looked like the maze of a lifetime.

Knowing Marius was safe, Jack turned predator once more, her entire being solely focused on her mission. She had to get this target and she had to get out. Jack was instantly suspicious, though, when she saw the location of her target. He clearly belonged in the lofty society of the other side, but he was in this territory. Jack moved through the streets, the broken lights flickering to life every once in a while.

She silently stepped into the building that the intended target was supposed to be in. She was confused at first as to why right after the entrance there was only three walls and no doors. But to her well-trained eye she saw a crack of light and silently stepped forward, investigating this. She found it was the edge of a hidden door and, without making any noise, opened it and slipped in. She wasn't going to close it behind her; she would only have to open it again when she was running out.

Jack was unnerved by the suddenly pristine and neat hallway that greeted her when she turned around. Two doors on the right, three on the left, wall at the end of the hallway, but that could have easily been another secret door. Jack gave in to her other self, the one that Riddick had released in her, the predator, the beast, the thing inside her that made her target her prey. Her boots padded like paws of a bear, wolf or tiger as she passed each door, knowing it was empty by the pulses of human life that were absent as she walked by them. Yet the third door on the left held a lingering scent of fear mixed with the personal scent of a human.

She followed it to the end of the hallway, growling in annoyance as she had to find another hidden door. She trailed her hand over the door, her bare fingertips grazing an in-balance in what was supposed to be a flat wall. Working with this, she followed it and realized she was supposed to have a key of some kind. But Jack had never had time for keys, so she felt nothing as she dug her claws into the wall, breaking the mechanism and opening the door. Walking into a room, she knew she had found her target, seeing how he was standing terrified behind a desk.

A Desk.

"_Remember, kid, you've got to take in the surroundings around your target." Riddick taught, sinking into a chair in Jack's room. She sat cross-legged on the bed, watching him rub his eyes. _

"_Why?" She asked, glad that she had dimmed the lights so she could see his silver eyes._

"_He could gain a weapon from it; he could be hiding something somewhere. Deeper into that, always look for abnormalities in the figure." He added, his deep voice always holding her attention._

"_That could possibly signify to me that he is holding a weapon on his body." She ended, inwardly bursting with pride when he nodded. _

"_Good, you're catching on." He said, watching her as she unfolded her legs, graceful as a cat._

"_Well yeah, but right now I've just got to hope that my target is wearing spandex tight clothes." She grumbled, flopping down on her bed. She craned her neck up when she heard him laugh. Jack smiled back at him and he continued his small lecture on attacking targets._

But, of course, he was wearing a suit, one that could easily hide a small pistol or even bomb detonator. Jack hoped that wasn't the case and glared at her target.

"Who…who…" He stuttered, stumbling back into his chair.

"No, I didn't ask you to imitate an owl. Come here." She ordered, wondering if she had frightened him enough to get him to walk into his death.

"No…I'm-I'm staying right here!" He declared, his voice not masking the terror he obviously felt.

"Well then, let's get started. I hate it when the audience doesn't participate." She said, knowing she sounded slightly insane. She walked up to the desk, lifting herself onto it and sliding across the smooth wood. Jack dangled her legs over the desk, leaning down and staring at the soon-to-be dead man.

"My followers will be after you! You will never get away!" He vowed, but it didn't sound real. Jack wondered what he meant by his followers, but didn't really care.

"Right, well, before I do you in, what the hell is a suit doing in this part of town?" She asked, not resisting the temptation to poke around in her target's head.

"I…I…this is part of my…" he trailed off when Jack stood. She could find this out later.

"I'm feeling creative. And generous, so let's have you pick. By claw or shiv?" She asked, producing both on the spot. He looked like he was going to faint at the sight of the weapons. "No preference, clearly. Too bad." She said, holding a shiv in one hand and her claws open in the other.

Before he could say any last words, she had sliced his throat open with her claws and completed the death by using her shiv. But she wasn't about to leave and as the blood from his pumping neck stained her hands, she stood behind him and snapped his neck for good measure. Stepping away, Jack cleaned the blades on the man's suit and turned to walk out. As she did she saw a few papers that had been left on the desk. She paled when she saw who they were addressed to.

She sprinted out of the office, just realizing that she should've known something was up when he sat in a leather chair, his tie and shirt made of silk and the cuffs on his suit gold with diamonds set in them. Grabbing the radio as she stumbled out of the building, she ripped it from her belt and tried for a connection to the ship.

"Jack?" Marius' voice came through with a little static.

"Yeah, it's me, open the hatch, this is going to be a quick escape." She said slightly breathless, looking behind her. Jack's stomach dropped when suddenly sirens pierced the few remaining hours of night.

"What is that? Jack? Jack, what the hell is that?" She ignored him as she ran faster, trying to pretend that the shouts behind her weren't real.

Yet the pain of a bullet ripping through the flesh of her arm and her torso was very real. She spotted old tanks of oil that someone had abandoned on the street years ago and raced towards them, gritting her teeth against the pain. She went behind them and pushed them out into the street, kicking them to make them roll. There were six of them rolling towards the men running after her. Taking aim with the one handgun she carried, Jack shot the tanks, only pausing to shoot a bullet straight into the ground, causing a spark of friction to set the fire. She knew she had slowed them down completely and turned and kept running. Blood slid through her hands as she neared the port.

Jack skidded into the spaceport, leaping security as she forced herself to run to the ship. Marius stood at the top of the ramp as she approached the lot.

"Close the ramp!" She shouted, glad to see he obeyed her immediately and she bit her lip as she jumped up, catching onto the edge of the ramp and pulling herself up and into the ship. Rolling to the floor she bit back another moan.

"We've got permission to leave." He said, pulling on her forearm to the cockpit. She sank into the chair and threw all the necessary switches to get going. To her relief the ship started up with ease and she rolled out of the lot, almost smashing the communications box when the automatic voice said it had hoped she had enjoyed her stay on the planet.

The voice was minutes too late as they had taken off and were approaching the atmosphere, saying that they had to stop immediately and turn back to the port.

"If you think I'm turning back, you've got some fucked up shit to sort out." She growled, pulling up the controls. Without thinking she tapped in coordinates for a system not too far from the Helion one.

"Jack-" Marius started.

"Not now, strap in." She commanded, setting up the controls for hyperdrive. He gulped and did as told, waiting until she sat back and watched as the ship was pulled out of the system and into another.

Finally they stopped and she put on autopilot, stumbling out of her seat and towards the med bay. She growled when she felt Marius slip beneath her, supporting her almost completely until they reached the room. Jack was barely able to pull herself up onto the silver operating table that shined in the middle of the small med bay.

"I need-" she started but was cut off when Marius turned around, everything she needed in hand. He hopped up onto the table and began to clean the arm wound.

"I can stitch wounds." He said, stopping to put a makeshift bandage around the other bleeding wound. Jack growled again but let him go on, watching him carefully. He was very precise and the stitching was remarkably even. She lay down to let him clean up the side wound and snarled when her wounded arm couldn't find a resting place. The bullet wound in her arm was her right arm and the one on her side was on the left side, making it very hard to find a comfortable position.

"Jack?" He asked again, not moving his eyes from the wound he was carefully stitching.

"Hm?" She asked, wondering why she didn't need numbing drugs for this sort of thing.

"Who did you kill?" He asked, his voice controlled and calm. Jack was eerily reminded of herself years ago when she, without fear and filled with confidence, asked about every single one of Riddick's targets. He had been reluctant at first but had given in and Jack felt the exact same way.

"Someone important." She muttered, trying to blur the image of the signature she had also seen on a few of the other papers.

"People - security, actually - were shooting at you. Who was it?" He pressed her, pulling the last stitch closed.

"Remember the Roman history I taught you?" She asked, sitting up so he could bandage her. Jack wondered how she had let this young boy get so close to her.

"Yes." He answered, not sure what this had to do with anything, but let it go.

"If the emperor had a right-hand man, like a high-ranking general of his legionaries mixed with a very well-respected senator… Well, I basically killed the equivalent of that." She explained, watching Marius' face pale as hers had done not so long ago.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

**Thoughts Connected by Stars**

The next few days were very tense, and Jack rarely strayed from the constant news reel. She barely thanked Marius when he brought her food and drink, pushing away the constant parallel she found between the younger version of herself and Marius. She had taken care of Riddick like this after they escaped from the planet, his entire being focused on any hint that mercs were still around and on his trail. Her thoughts were conflicting constantly, like two swords coming together in a clash of sparks and jarring pain. She watched Marius when he wasn't aware of it, maybe just noting her presence but not thinking she was carefully studying him.

"Marius." Her voice was deep, unused and growling. He startled himself into movement, trotting up to the pilot's seat, a book in hand. "Sit."

He sat.

"You know I've killed many in my lifetime, but those were murders, just to get by." She started, gratefully accepting the small bottle of water the young boy produced from seemingly nowhere. "But you've listened to the news, this is more then a petty killing. I've assassinated someone, and not just any old retired political figure. You know about merc rings and packs, don't you?"

"I've…heard about them." He replied softly, unnerved and calmed at the same time by her steadily burning gaze out the window, drawing imaginary lines between the stars.

"Mercs, as a rule, are out only for pay; only beer money, as it were. But there are other kinds of mercs; the kind that do it mostly for the thrill of the hunt." Her face twisted into disgust; it reminded her too much of herself and, more importantly, her silver-eyed mentor. "They belong to a somewhat secret society, or ring, pack, whatever you want to call it. When the pay comes in, they, in all faith, send the money to the leader of that ring. The leader supports them very well, giving them ships, weapons, only dealing out the money as needed. But some of these hunters, as they really should be called, are real sick bastards."

"So what does this have to do with who you killed? The news just keeps saying it was some political figure fallen from fame." Marius said, furrowing his brows, as if he was pointing out the painfully obvious.

"Come now, Marius," she chided, "why would these mercs want anyone to know that their leader has been killed? There is an immediate successor after the leader is killed and undoubtedly he or she pays off all the news. But those who are in the business, both the predators and the prey, know exactly what happened. They know exactly who was killed." She said, glancing over at him, her hair falling from the braid she had hastily put it into. Her gaze was soft, trying her to best to show she held no contempt for the young boy.

"So you killed one of these leaders, and…" he trailed off, unsure of the result. Jack stood, stretching for a moment, her eyes flitting back to the news reel now on mute. Walking away from the pilot's chair, she seemed very interested by her feet and how they stepped on the metal tiles of the floor.

"Two words for you. Loyal supporters." She said, not looking at him.

"Are they going to come after you, drooling for revenge?" He sounded very doubtful, even sarcastic. "Do they even _know_ who did it?"

She stopped at this remark, but the hope was quickly dashed as she remembered the deal with the client. With a quiet snarl she deposited herself roughly into the pilot's seat again, not saying anything but charting in another course. Marius was concerned; was his idol really in trouble? Wasn't she indestructible and impossible to catch?

"They do, Marius." She remarked sadly, sitting back in the chair, feeling the ship move in autopilot on their new plotted course. "When you're hired to kill someone, there is a sort of code that you can ask for. It's like a killer's code, something that everyone in the business of murder and assassination must follow."

"Like the unspoken loyalty the legionaries would have to their general?" He asked, suddenly relieved by the proud smile he only saw in profile on Jack's face.

"Almost; you have the basic gist of it. So this code, I could have asked for it. What it would do is if someone came looking for the asshole who hired me for the job, asked who killed the leader, the asshole would refuse. Even if he was offered bribes, he would keep his mouth shut. It's something very rare, this honor code. Technically, the one who asks for information should respect this code…" she trailed off, her eyes and face darkening.

"But…" Marius pressed, very curious about this whole society of killers he had never really known about.

"There are those who are so loyal, they would do anything to gain the information. This 'anything' ranges from simply physical torture to killing wives, children and lovers of the guy who hires the killer." She grimly nodded at the disgusted and terrified face of her charge.

"And you can't call and ask for this code now?" He asked, his heart almost stopping when she shook her head. "Why!" He demanded, surprising Jack with the strength of emotion in his voice.

"Once the target is killed, the blood has been spilled, the code cannot be requested." She spoke, the eerie rhyme imprinting itself in Marius' head. "And I doubt the man who hired me would properly honor the code, anyway." She remarked, waving it off.

"But you said that-" Marius protested, angry and annoyed.

"It's never a perfect world." She interrupted quietly, and he sunk further down his seat, defeated. A part him of that had been rapidly growing since Jack took him in flamed with rage that he could do nothing to protect her. She would immediately say he should only protect himself, but he tossed this aside as easily as he had the terrible memories of his earlier life.

He didn't realize he let out a small whimper as he pulled his knees up to his chest, looking very downcast. Jack watched this and suddenly felt guilty. She was going to be the death of the boy if she didn't lighten up. Setting the ship on autopilot, Jack stood and closed the distance between the two chairs. Marius barely realized what was happening when she lifted the smaller form into her arms, holding him close to her. He warily wound his arms around her neck, burying his face in her shoulder.

"C'mon, let's get some rest." She spoke softly into his hair, walking back towards the bedroom they shared. She had barely slept, but always checked on him or watched.

For Marius the hallway and the entrance into the bedroom was a blur, his emotions mixing into one terrible, choking feeling. He almost clung to her when he felt them sit on the bed, but Jack didn't force him off. She stroked his hair and waited for him to let go on his own.

"It's going to be ok." She said, shocked when he just held onto her tighter, whimpering something into her shoulder. "What was that?" She asked, her heart touched when she saw the affection he held for her in his eyes. His eyes, the silver pair that would always be in her mind, waiting for her to slip into memories.

"_Kid, let go." He said gruffly, looking down at the young, scruffy girl that had cemented her arms around his waist. He wasn't going to pry her arms from around him, he felt a sort of bond with her. A bond that was purely mental, seeing how she took care of the physical part. _

"_No." She stated, burying her face in his stomach, breathing deeply. Setting a hand on her hair, which was now just long enough to spike with hair gel, Riddick growled quietly. Jack bent her head back and still rested her neck on him, just looking up. _

"_You do this every night I have a job, kid. I'm going to come back." He said, sounding a little annoyed. Inside, he couldn't have been more happy or touched. No one had ever emotionally and physically connected to him like this; she needed him. _

"_Yeah, well, just getting all the Riddick I can before you actually don't come back." She said, alarming him. He didn't realize she had been prepared for whenever he did pick up and leave. Breaking away from her, he kneeled and pulled her into a brief hug before he stood and left, his nerves not calmed by the automatic lock of the door. _

Marius wasn't sure how to voice his feelings, so he stayed quiet for a while, just glad that Jack was holding him. He didn't think about how strange it was that he felt even more comforted by the dull feeling of the knives that Jack kept around her stomach poking into him as he had his arms wrapped around her. She was surprisingly patient, maybe lost in thoughts.

"What if it's not ok?" He asked again, his voice still a little shaky.

"I'm not immortal; you'd have to survive on your own." She said, remembering that letter she had written. He wouldn't be alone, not if she could do anything about it.

"I'd live on in your name; fight for you and like you." He said, not caring how silly that sounded. But to Jack it was a fine compliment and she smiled sadly at it.

"The Eternal Jack." She mused, pulling herself farther onto the bed, secretly pleased to see that Marius let her go and didn't cling to her like she had done to Riddick. She lay down; her hands clasped behind her head, looking at the young boy who wasn't sure what to do.

He decided on just laying down, watching his mentor. She wasn't too happy about this; he was obviously in need of more comfort. With a growl she pulled him over to her, letting him snuggle against her, keeping one arm around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder.

"Get some sleep." She demanded quietly, and soon, she felt his breathing even out. But she stayed awake, barely noticing the warm body next to her, but wishing that some million stars away Riddick was wishing for her, too.

**Thanks to these reviewers:**

**gbmarie – I'm sorry, there was a definite gap between the 'on' and 'If', could you specify? Thanks for reviewing. **

**TRO – Whee! Thanks for reviewing both 2 and 3, you make me happy. **

**Haley – Glad you like the relationship between the two, I'm having issues with how any romance is going to work out, but I usually go R/J, have to say. Thanks, hope it keeps interesting you. **

**IT – Course you silly thing, thanks for reviewing even though it's like a double review now. Yay for pirate speak!**

**buecha – Thanks for reviewing, and just so you know, I don't leave stories unfinished, although there seems to be a problem when I write oneshots, people really do think I'm going to continue them. I'm not. Thanks for reviewing, hope you liked the chapter. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

**On The Other Side of the Stars**

It was a city of eternal night, not close enough to any bright star to keep a constant period of light. Not many lived here; it was impossible to naturally grow anything and, unless one had a shine job, well, it's safe to say that you wouldn't get too far. No one spoke of it, but a single man ran the entire planet and his loyal followers and workers kept it that way, showing no mercy to those who tried to overthrow their leader.

The main city was safely nestled into a ring of mountains, providing protection and lookouts, which were all used. If one stood on the slope of the mountain, looking directly at the city, it seemed to glow. Everything was made of white stone, giving contrast to the dark streets and sky that surrounded it. There were no entrance gates, since those who ran the city always knew who was in it anyway. There was no uniformity to the streets, the roads always moving a little, intersections never quite properly perpendicular. Yet through a jagged path could one make it to the building that stood above all, the one that looked like a temple to those who entered by the mountain path.

This building stood tall and elegant above all the others, symmetric, the terraces and tall windows matching. The rounded porches easily gave some twenty feet between the doors of the porch and the stone railing surrounding it. From afar it seemed a palace, fit for only royalty. In a way, royalty did live within it, but not the royal blood of kings and queens. This was the royalty of hunters; hunters who thought nothing of money and pay, just of the thrill of the chase.

Gentle moonlight lit the large terrace that led from a bedroom, light hints of jasmine uncurling in the breeze that played with the curtains. The best hunter of all - indeed the emperor or king of them all - stood at the railing, watching his city flourish with activity. It was as if the building he ruled and hunted from was like the moon itself, affecting the tides of the ocean. Waves of movement would overcome the city, seeing how no one put themselves in a certain period of time to sleep. Some slept while others worked, the night always providing a dark cradle for those who had hunted with their strongest.

The night let him think without confusion, each thought flowing into the next, as if a small stream connected the stars of ideas that matched his eyes. Breathing in the air, he turned his head to hear one of his hunters confidently approach him. They had no reason to knock or grovel; they hunted together as a pack. Yet he stood at a respectful distance, waiting for a signal to let him speak. The relaxation of shoulders was enough and his voice cut the comforting silence.

"We found the information you requested. The killer's last stop was at a small space station, Nattuck. We gained access to a few security tapes and your suspicions were confirmed. The man who hired her bragged of her quick and thorough job, but he was drunk, so we continued to search. We had to…threaten him for the ship tracking code, but-"

"Had she asked for the honor code?" He spoke at last, his voice rumbling with power.

"No, we would have found other ways to find the tracking code for the ship if that was the case. She seems to be drifting, not quite having a destination in mind." He continued, still confidant in his deliverance of information. He hid nothing from the leader, this ring of hunters were always respectful of promises, honor codes and grudges.

"Laiker, is someone trailing her?" He asked, using the hunter's name.

"Yes, and we have reason to believe that the leaderless ring is following her as well." He said, curious as to why his leader was so interested of his rival's death; usually he would just be pleased to have him gone. He wasn't surprised when he smelled the curiosity, he had gotten used to that.

"I know her quite well; we have something of a history. Was the last hunt finished?" He asked, moving onto more business. He only half-heartedly listened to the successful report of the capture and bounty, turning to ask his fellow hunter a personal question at the end.

As he thought it out in his head, Laiker handed him a file with pictures of the killer through out the years. He had never seen these, only one vivid image of the girl stayed with him. Closing the file to look at it later, he coldly judged the man standing before him. He had no friends within his hunting ring, just very close brothers.

"Talk to me as a brother, Laiker. Do you think it's worth it to look out for this killer?" He asked, leaning back on the railing.

"Seeing how it was rumored it was impossible to find him and do him in, she could be a valuable addition. Are you going to go to see her personally?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I think so. Not sure how she will take me being what I am now." He added with his infamous smirk, making Laiker bark with laughter.

"What? She would be surprised by the world known Richard B. Riddick turned strongest leader in the hunters of mercs?" He asked with sarcasm. Riddick laughed with him, but he didn't know as he left his leader's rooms that in fact, it could be a problem. How exactly would Jack take the fact he was now the chaser, not the chased?

Marius had woken up alone, feeling just as empty as the bed he was laying on. Jack was his idol, his mentor, his everything know that he came to think of it. But was she going to abandon him? He knew for sure that would break him and roughly wiped away a few tears that just threatened to fall. Rolling off the bed, he stood and padded from the room to the cockpit, where the woman in question turned to look at him.

"Strap up, we're landing." She said, ignoring his red eyes. Jack herself was confused as to how she would let him know she wasn't going to pick up and vanish. She promised that she would never run off like Riddick did on her, although bit by bit she came to realize that he hadn't run off, but it still felt that way.

Marius had no idea where she had gotten her piloting skills from, but he didn't know how long she had been on that shit planet they had met on, or where she had been before, either. They weren't that of an expert, but just enough to get going and gone when they were being chased. He saw that they were landing on another space station, Valen III to be exact.

As she pulled into her lot, Marius looked around, seeing it was simply another space station, pilots stopping to refuel, restock and maybe rest up for a few days. When they had first stopped on Nattuck he had kept in tow of his mentor, always observing around him. He had been startled by the sudden appearance of scantily dressed women flocking around docking pilots and had almost glued himself to Jack's side. One or two even approached Jack, slyly smirking at her and she had paid a little attention to them, rewarding their bravery of going near a female pilot with a meaningless kiss or two.

Marius had been almost horrified when it sunk in that there was a large brothel business on the space stations, but when he brought it up with Jack, she made it make sense, like always. He had edged around the topic of her kissing another woman, but Jack just laughed and ruffled his hair. She said that it didn't bother her, but it wasn't her preference and that when one gets very lonely, measures are taken to fix that. She had left him with that and he thought of it again, trying to steer Jack away from walking straight through what he saw as a herd of obnoxious underfed and un-groomed swans.

He stayed at her side as she waited in line to register and request what was needed for the ship. In these space stations no one asked for identification for the ships, so they had no problem, Jack gruffly ordering what she needed. Marius stood off to the side of the desk, his eyes drifting over the people just milling around. He was caught by a group of particularly vicious looking men, who were also scanning the crowds. He almost choked when a scarred face locked in on his position, specifically Jack's behind him. She noticed it too and locking her hand on the back of his neck, walked him away, into the center of the space station.

They didn't speak until they had gotten far away enough, walking in a very large circle that was like a giant mall. Jack only had to follow her nose to the food courts, her hand not straying from his neck.

"Jack, those men, are they…" he trailed off and she nodded, curtly asking him what he wanted to eat. As soon as what the needed was given, she was leaving.

Sliding into two chairs, they ate in silence, his mentor's eyes flitting over the passing crowds. As they chewed their food, Jack classified in her head where she was exactly and what planets she was near. Just as she was finishing off her burger, which Marius insisted was so rare it still had a heartbeat, a figure in the crowd almost made her choke. Yet it was gone as soon as it had appeared and left her thoughts racing. She would have thought he would seclude himself after the crash, not walk around in broad light of the world. Valen III wasn't in the center of things, like the Helion system, but he would still be recognized.

She left some money on the table and Marius had to chug the rest of his soda just to catch up with her. Jack fearlessly stalked through the people, her presence not one to miss or mess with. Talking to her was useless right now, seeing how she was almost chasing someone. Finally it seemed that she had temporarily given up the chase and she looked down to see her charge worriedly returning her cool gaze.

"Hey, Marius, want anything while we're here? We won't be hitting another station like this for a while." Her mood suddenly changed and he was secretly glad for it. His eyes traveled over the names of the stores painted onto the clean glass, their products displayed in the window.

"Yeah, could I get some more books?" He asked, surprising her. With a half grin, she nodded and consulting the glowing plastic map of the station, found the singular bookstore. He kept near her, rarely straying to look at something in a window, but he was happy to see that she stopped only a few feet away, waiting for him.

He almost skipped into the bookstore and, checking her credit chips, she told Marius he was allowed to have ten books and with glazed eyes he ran off into the maze of book shelves. She wandered around, not really looking for anything, but landing in the animal section. She picked up a large book, which was a digital picture dictionary of the rare and strange aliens of the universe's known planets.

She sat down in a chair in that area, setting down the device on the table. Jack's mind easily whirred and found how to work it, either entering the animal or the planet. A grim line served as her lips as she entered the fatal planet that almost was the death of her. Jack's eyes drifted over the other spines of the books as the small computer buzzed and purred on the table, searching its database for her request. Soon it came up and a hologram was projected into the air, the image causing Jack to shudder in memory.

The hammerhead's jaws were open in a ferocious and what looked like a starving cry, its wings open and claws reaching forward. In the background it quietly gave the sound of the strange alien, the echoing locating calls haunting her. As she read the entry for the beast, she didn't hear Marius approach her from behind.

He saw his mentor deeply absorbed by whatever was on the table and as he got nearer he saw it was a dictionary for alien forms of beasts and animals. The one that was displayed in the hologram frightened him; it looked the stuff of a child's terrible nightmare. He shifted his feet and immediately Jack heard and spun around, her glare wild and afraid. Marius was shocked and stumbled back, the books falling from his arms. He saw her shut down device on the table and bending down to gather his books.

"Jack, Jack, it's ok." He said, picking himself up as she turned and put the small picture dictionary back to its place on the shelf. "What was that thing?" He asked, receiving a cold glare from her.

"Nothing, let's go." She sharply commanded, stalking out of the small area hidden by surrounding shelves. Nodding he followed her, relieved to set down the books on the counter. Jack bade him to wait outside while she paid and he did so, but the image of the horrifying beast still played before him. Jack followed him out, two bags of books in hand and she looked fondly down at him and smiled. He felt better and even more comforted when Jack let him hold her wrist with his hand, slowly walking back to their ship.

A figure moved in the bookstore, entering the now clean and quiet scene that had been one of chaos and confusion just minutes before. He easily found the dictionary, pulling it out and setting it down on the table. Sliding into the seat he entered for the most recent entry and growled deeply when he heard the soft cries of the beasts that had saved Jack from so long ago. He didn't need to see the hologram and shut it down, returning it to its shelf. Stalking out of the bookstore, Riddick turned and followed the unique scent of the woman who he had been thinking of almost every day since the murder of his rival.

**Thanks to these reviewers and especially to dear IT:**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed – **So good to have you reviewing again! See! He came in!

**ren3017 – **I had a great time, thanks. I hope you still like the direction of the fic, soon another chapter will come up.

**njrd – **Discovering good stories is such a great feeling, thanks for reviewing. Marius and Jack is fun to work with and yes, R/J will happen, rest assured.

**Iridescent Twilight – **More double reviews yet no pirate speak. Meth and Marius, something with the 'M' names. And yay for hugs.

**NightmareWeaver – **Sleep always sounds good, yeah I realized after I uploaded the chapter it was PotC-like, lots of fun. Yes! More NW updates! No drastic things happening to computers, that's the worse.

**TeaCat – **Glad you liked it.

**Haley – **Woo, you can bet your anonymous self that there's gonna be R/J. Hope you liked this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

**Crossing Paths**

Jack lingered in the doorway of the ship, looking back at the port, as if waiting for someone. Marius was further in, placing the books in various piles all over the place, not noticing that his mentor wasn't directly behind him. Growling, Jack swung herself into the ship, slamming her fist on the closing lock, almost breaking it. This startled him and he looked up, seeing a glowering Jack avoiding his questioning gaze.

"Jack?" He cautiously asked, subconsciously straightening a pile of books.

"What is it?" She snarled, immediately feeling sorry.

"I…I…you…" he stumbled.

"Don't worry, it wasn't you…just…you're staying in tonight." She said, waving him to sit down. He did just that, sinking into the copilot's seat and staring at her.

"What do you mean, 'you're'?" He asked, receiving a softer glare.

"I need to do some…scouting. You will stay here." She ordered, crossing her leg beneath her as she sat down in the pilots seat.

"But-"

Her icy stare silenced him, so he let it go, not wanting to anger her any more. He had known something was bothering her since they left the bookstore, but he dared not voice his suspicions. Picking up a book, he flipped open to the front page and began to read.

"Marius, are you hungry?" She asked suddenly, making him glance up, holding his hand at his page. She seemed completely preoccupied, the dangerous glint in her eyes not fading but it wasn't directed at him. He nodded, still not sure if he should speak.

The meal was eaten in silence, Marius gladly using the time to read and to let Jack brood over whatever was bothering her. He mused that she seemed particularly vicious with her knife as she cut her food, maybe even scratching the plate. When it was done she stood and cleared their makeshift table, walking off to the sink and leaving her charge at the table.

As she walked back, she saw how absorbed he was in his books and figured it would calm her down to take a walk. Or scouting, as she had told him. She re-armed herself, feeling distant from the world as she did so, lost in memories of times past.

_"Riddick?" Jack propped herself up on her elbows, peering over the back of the shabby couch. He had just laid his hand on the door knob of their run-down apartment when she spoke. _

_Turning, he raised an eyebrow at her. In truth, she looked out of place in the room. Her hair had grown and now fell just beneath her shoulder blades, black waves of wild mane contrasting sharply with her hazel eyes that blazed green when she was angry. So it wasn't often that her eyes weren't that vivid shade of emerald. She had dyed her hair black, seeing how there were pictures of them all over merc nets, so they had to change appearances. _

_"Going out again?" She asked, sounding hurt. Jack felt like she wasn't talking to the same man, seeing how his eyes were hidden by colour contacts, an uninteresting shade of brown. _

_"What's it to you?" He rumbled back, smoothing his hand over his shaven scalp. _

_"Clearly I don't want you to leave." She snapped, sitting up. Her body had grown as well, and Riddick wasn't sure how long he had until she caught on where he was going almost every night. _

_"I'll be back." He growled, turning again. _

_"Yeah?" She questioned, jumping over the back of the couch. "I don't want you to go." She repeated, crossing her arms over herself. Sighing he turned around again, unsure if it was anger or pain he smelled. _

_"I go, I come back, big deal. Christ, Jack, you're going to be fine." Riddick said, doing his best not to glare at her. He was just about to step over the threshold of the door when he heard her retreating footsteps, a slam of a door and what he thought was her mirror being smashed. "Fuck, kid, gotta work on this anger problem," he mumbled, shutting the door behind him and walking swiftly towards her room. _

_Of course the door was locked, but it wasn't going to ask permission. Riddick didn't know what it was that tore him up inside when he heard a strangled sob from her, nor did he want to find out, but he wasn't going to have her wallowing in misery while he went out to please himself. Kicking the door open, he went in to see that indeed the mirror was smashed and Jack sat on the floor, holding her right fist, which was encrusted with blood and shattered glass. _

_"Riddick," she choked out, "go." _

_"Nice try." He shot back, toeing all the glass towards the wall as he made his way to the young girl. She was going to be very strong, but that wasn't yet. Jack needed to not be alone, she didn't have it in her to be stuck in solitude for her life and he saw that. _

_An hour later found the pair in Jack's bed, Jack sleeping peacefully, face dried of tears. Riddick was behind her, holding her around the waist and lightly holding her bandaged hand in his, not wanting to have it moved around during the night. Jack sighed in her sleep and moved closer to his body, humming quietly. _

_No, he wasn't going anywhere tonight._

Tightly pulling the last strap over one of her shivs, Jack refocused her eyes on Marius, who was watching her move. With a slight smile she walked to him and stood in front of him, almost like a war general before peaceful and intellectual prince. But Marius could fight, so she wasn't too worried about leaving him in a locked ship.

"I'll be back later." Was all she said as she headed out of the cockpit and to the door. Marius softly said goodbye to her, but he knew she had heard him, although the only thing that replied was the hiss and lock of the ship's door. Cracking his jaw, he settled back down into his book, vaguely wondering where Jack was going to go.

She was swiftly moving through the port, waiting for that feeling she got as they had been walking home earlier that day. Jack didn't like the feeling of being chased, or being the prey, as Riddick would've said. She kept her fingers impossibly close to the trigger release of her claws, her eyes accustomed to dark as they moved over non-threats and studied ones that could pose a problem.

Hearing a slight scuffle to her left, she headed that way, not yet unsheathing her claws. It was none of her business to see what was happening, but Jack had always been attracted to fights and trouble to start with. Two men were beating each other up in the dark alley of the port, one losing terribly. He was on the ground, begging for the other's mercy, his nose broken and blood dripping in grotesque patterns all over the cement.

"Hey!" She snapped, sliding into a fighting stance. "Let him go!" When had she become the hero of the dark world of night?

"Eh?" The winning man straightened his back, his fisted hands covered in blood. Sneering at her, he took the man's shirt and roughly slid him away. He scrambled up and ran off, leaving the other two. "Girly girl, what's yer problem with me?"

"It's my problem with everyone. Fuck off." She snarled, wondering if the fight was a bad one to get into. Jack pressed the trigger release and the claws shot out, flashes of bright silver in the dark alley. She saw a momentary hint of fear on the man's face, but it was replaced with that arrogant confidence that she hated.

"Well, girly girl, seems like yer outnumbered." He smirked, Jack cursing herself as she suddenly felt at least eight more men surround her.

"Call me a girly girl, sure. Beat me? In your dreams, bitch." She mocked, letting him run at her. Jack wasn't going to let these guys live, so her battle style was entirely different.

He ran head down, as if charging, so she jumped and as she passed his head, dug both claws into the base of his skull, pulling towards her. When she landed, part his scalp dropped from her bloodied hands. He stumbled for a moment, but she ran forward and pulling a shiv, cut his throat open and let him fall.

"Kind of like the way you killed our leader. What do you think of doin' her in the same way?" Another stepped forward, bearing a mace. Jack gritted her teeth and slid into fighting position once again. This wasn't going to be easy.

Marius sighed dreamily as he turned another page, he hadn't been this deliriously happy since Jack told him she wasn't going to throw him back into the streets. He glanced to the top of the page to see how far he was in his first book and was distracted by a glint of silver across the room. Looking up, he saw one of Jack's favourite blades left on the table. In his haste of getting up, his book fell to the floor and he quickly righted it and went to the table. He groaned when he saw it was her bone shiv, she went nowhere without it but she had been in another place altogether when she had been arming herself only some twenty minutes earlier.

His mind was bent with dilemma, stay here like Jack said, or go run and find Jack and give her the shiv. She had said to stay put, but it didn't mean that he couldn't go find her. Grinning, Marius decided to tell her later that she had to be more specific with her orders. Snatching the blade off the table, he fit it snugly between an extra leather belt and his pants. It gleamed a fearsome white against his darkly coloured clothes, but he was more intent on getting out of the ship.

With his feet on the ground, he looked left and right, wondering where she had gone. To the left it was the departure ports, where they took off into space, so he went with the right. 'There's logic, but now instinct,' he thought as he began to lightly jog to the right, glancing in at the small alleys that littered the port.

He suddenly skidded to a stop, his ears lifted, trained to hear sounds that normal human ears would have trouble picking up. Scuffles, curses, the familiar sound of blades tearing through flesh. Jack had to be there, he decided, about to move forward again when a massive form dropped from above and landed in a crouch in front of him. Gulping, Marius reached for the shiv but stopped, knowing that it wasn't going to help him to use his strongest weapon first.

The figure straightened itself, and Marius was concerned with the massive height and body mass difference between himself and the unnamed man in front of him. The figure was indeed intimidating, the broad uncovered shoulders baring very well-muscled arms and the clothing altogether hid nothing of the man's strength. Marius mused that he wouldn't be as scary if he had hair and if he could see his eyes, which were covered with goggles, but he wasn't going to worry about it.

"Don't have time for names, where did you get that shiv?" The man asked, his deep voice shaking Marius to the bone. But he didn't dare show it, but walked up to the man.

"And I don't have time to talk to nameless men." He shot back, trying to walk around him, but his arm shot out and blocked him. "I mean it, I've got to go." Marius stated, his voice showing no trace of the fear he felt eating at his spine.

"We've all got places to go, kid. Where'd you get the damn shiv?" He asked, sounding arrogantly bored. To the nameless man's surprise, Marius let out an animal-like snarl, obviously impatient. He opened his mouth to speak, but a woman's wild yell cut the air and something else entirely came out of his mouth.

"JACK!" He shouted, his eyes widening in panic.

"You know Jack, huh?" He asked, smirking. The young boy pulled out the shiv and stood in a fighting stance, similar to Jack's but with a classical forbidding presence.

"Maybe I do, but what's it to a hairless and most likely brainless ape like you?" Marius growled out, knowing he could get seriously pummeled for insulting him like that.

Four of the men were moaning and dying in pools of their own blood and organs, Jack just keeping her footing on the slippery surface. Her claws were red, as were most of her arms. Another angry man charged at her, and she took him out just as easily as the others, dipping beneath him and catching the back of his head in her hands, snapping the spine with a quick jerk. Panting slightly, she cursed as a few more men appeared.

"You're pretty good for a woman." One of them spat, approaching her. She stayed silent and moved her hand back, to where she kept her bone shiv hidden on the back of her thigh.

"Yeah, she is, wonder if she is this crazy in bed." Another added, making the rest of the group bark with laughter.

"We're gonna find out, ain't no way a insane bitch like this can last for long, right boys?" The first one spoke again, pulling out two small daggers. They weren't throwing daggers, but they looked viciously sharp.

He ran towards her and Jack moved to where her shiv was and to her shock, her hand came up empty. Panic overtook her for a moment as the man kept running at her and just as one of his daggers deeply cut her forearm that she had brought up to block her face, she released the claws again. Jack dug them up into the man's stomach, wrenching the sharp metal around and out, spending time to move farther up his chest and take out his heart as well. The man's mouth gurgled with blood and she shoved him to the side, still sitting on the ground.

The other men advanced, smirks not fading on their hideous faces. Jumping up with a battle cry, Jack released both of her claws and ran into the fray.

Riddick had just about lost his cool, this kid had a lot of nerve. After he put this kid down, he could go find Jack, if he followed her yell correctly. But suddenly the kid turned on his heel and sprinted the other way, definitely away from Jack. Riddick let the chase run and followed him, his larger form easily taking over the boy's stride. But Marius was smaller and maybe even faster.

He skidded short in step and charged right at Riddick, jumping at the last minute and using Riddick's head as leverage beneath his feet. Springing off the man's back, he didn't look back but ran as fast as he could to where he thought his mentor was.

"Well I'll be, there isn't a doubt that kid is with her." He smirked, turning to follow the boy. Riddick would have gone slower, waiting for the perfect moment to show up and save them, but above the smell of the dead attackers blood, he smelled the blood from T2. Jack's blood. He went into an easy lope, pulling out both shivs and a terrible change went through his face as he took off his goggles. He was the killer once more and was not going to let any filthy hunter touch her.

Marius easily found the fight and Jack had been caught behind by one of the larger attackers, struggling against his grip. Men stood behind the one who had her captured, watching their temporary leader stalk up, a sick smile plastered on his face. Hidden by the dark alley, he stayed low the ground as he approached the group, the shiv in his hand looking like a single talon.

No one besides Jack knew he was there until he had jumped up onto the man's back and slit his throat from behind, letting him fall the ground before Jack. Scrambling over, he slid onto his back through the bloodbath, grabbing onto the man's legs who had Jack. Using the shiv, he cut the man's tendons and muscles behind his knees and his Achilles tendon. He screamed in agony as he fell and Marius stood up, gluing his back to Jack's, who was recovering and ignoring the gaping wound in her forearm at the same time.

"Marius, I told you to stay on the ship." She growled, judging the enemy.

"But you didn't say to not go looking for you if you forgot your favourite shiv." He shot back, briefly showing Jack the shiv. She glowered at him then rolled her eyes, focused again on the men in surrounding her and her charge.

"We do this together, got it?" She asked, feeling the young boy's determination.

"Yeah, lemme guess, these are the vengeful drooling idiots?" he asked, making a few of them shout in hurt anger.

"Yep, these are the bitches." She confirmed, wondering if they would survive this. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'm going to be." He replied.

"Go!" She shouted, and they both lunged forward, slicing, kicking and smashing fists wherever they could. Jack realized with a sinking feeling this might be the first time Marius had gotten into such a fight, so when there was a pause in her attackers, she glanced over at him to find that he was struggling wildly against them. One had his arm tightly around Marius' neck, holding him against his larger body. The boy refused to give up the shiv, but his arms were held as well, so he couldn't move and defend himself.

"Stop!" The man shouted, bringing an end to the fight. He stepped forward with Marius still fighting against his hold. Jack snarled when he punched Marius in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and probably bruising a few ribs.

"Let him go!" She yelled, disgusted by his cowardly nature. And she had thought hunters were better then this.

"No, I don't think so. Either we kill 'im or you willingly surrender to us." The man bargained, tightening his grip. Marius was heaving breaths now, the lack of oxygen beginning to take a toll on his small body.

"Let him go!" Jack demanded again, sheathing her claws and taking out two other blades. The man opened his mouth to speak again but closed it, his eyes widening in obvious fear. Jack turned and to her surprise, a very familiar figure walked forth from the shadows, his voice calm, but she recognized the anger beneath it.

"I don't think you heard her, she told you to let the kid go." He spoke, stopping next to Jack. His silver eyes flashed in the dim light, making the attackers shudder. "Besides, when could Bellger's hunters walk freely around on Valen III and start fights?"

Jack recognized the name, it was the man she had killed. Bellger, the bastard had really pushed her into this shit. Too bad she couldn't bring him back to life and kill him again.

"Valen III…." The man stuttered, knowing he had gone too far.

"You know as well as I do that Nattuck is neutral territory, but Valen III simply," he walked forward, reaching the man holding Marius. He moved behind him and pressed his shiv to the man's spine, specifically the sweet spot. "not," another dull but soon to be sharp poke, "your," another poke, "ground." With that Riddick shoved his shiv in, making him release Marius, who stumbled forward. Jack caught him and picked him up, letting him regain breath in her arms.

Riddick let the man fall and stood tall again, his imposing figure obviously not one to fool with. A quiet snarl was all that was needed to have the rest of men running, tripping over themselves and barely able to gather their weapons. Waiting until they all left, Riddick turned to see Jack kneeling on the ground, cradling the young boy in her arms as he took his first few normal breaths.

Suddenly Riddick remembered a night where Jack must've had a dream about someone suffocating her and she woke up, clawing at her throat. He had gathered her into his arms immediately, ordering her to calm down and get her ass back into reality. She tried and succeeded, rewarding Riddick with a grateful smile before she fell back to sleep, exhausted with the ordeal.

"Jack," he spoke, his voice stronger, "your shiv." He held it up, it had been clenched in his fist the entire time. Smiling gently, she took it from him and sheathed it in its proper place, where it should've been a few minutes ago.

"Doing alright?" She asked, watching him struggled to stand. She stood easily and helped him, only then stopping to look at Riddick. Marius was too busy finding his balance and nodding to Jack at the same time to see the silent thanks Jack sent to the ex-convict, who approached the pair. But when he got close enough, Marius' head snapped up and he glared at Riddick, who smirked back at him.

"You! Jack, that's the guy who stopped me, he was asking about your shiv and then-" he rambled, quickly explaining to her but still shooting angry glances at Riddick.

"It's fine, Marius. I know him, he's not going to hurt me." Jack assured him and he stopped, breathing nosily through his nose. "Not kidding, it really is ok." With a growl Marius nodded, but he didn't like the other man there anymore then he had before.

"Nice charge you got there, Jack." Riddick commented as they turned to walk back to her ship.

"Glad to know you're interested." She said coldly, not looking at him. Riddick didn't know if she was doing this just to show Marius that she wasn't overly friendly with him or if she was doing it just out of genuine feeling. He hoped for the first.

They got back to the ship without another word, Jack sending Marius to their room with his books. He protested, pointing at the bloody wound on her forearm but with another order, sharper this time, he left, taking time to glare at Riddick again. Jack sighed once he left, sinking into the pilot's chair, not taking note of her still-bleeding wound. Riddick left in search of the med bay, taking a first-aid kit when he found it and heading back to the cockpit, where she still sat, staring out the window.

"Arm." He said, and she looked at him, fading amusement in her eyes. She leaned and rested her arm near him as he cleaned it and began to stitch it. "See you've kept yourself busy."

"I didn't find him, he found me." She replied, glancing up to meet his silver eyes looking at her face. Jack felt bits of her melting, but refused to let it show.

"Somehow I could say the same about you." He added, returning his eyes to his work, where the wound was neatly being pulled together. When he finished, he firmly bandaged it and moved his hands down to hold her hand. This got her attention and she looked at him again, her eyes curious.

"Riddick," she started, holding direct eye contact with him, "Since when did you know the details of merc hunter's territory?"

He wasn't going to dance around the subject, but he had to admit to himself that Jack was as sharp as ever, her mind picking up on the smallest details.

"Since I became the leader of a merc hunting group." He slid back into his seat as Jack suddenly jumped and collided herself into him, half-heartedly beating her fists on his chest, angry tears coming from nowhere. He caught her wrists and held them gently, waiting until she calmed down.

"How could you? You hate mercs, you hate all of it and you become one of them! I run from people like you, Riddick!" Her pained voice hurt him, but he let her continue. "What happened, just one day you sat back and thought 'Huh, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.'! You always beat them, even in the long run, you escaped Butcher Bay!" Jack was furious, how could he give in like that?

"Jack!" He shouted, making her stop and stare down, not daring to meet his silver gaze. "We both know I beat them every time, but it always meant I was chased! Do you know why I did this? Became a hunter?" He asked, not wanting to remember the few days that had torn him apart. He had been near suicidal during the decision, it had gone against everything he had ever done. But he had a reason, one he kept reminding himself of every day since he joined. "Do you?" He asked again, letting go of her wrists, which fell limply to her sides.

"No." She replied, looking up to see his face. It hadn't changed at all since the last time she had seen him, but she had missed it terribly, missed him horribly.

"Jack, what was the reason I left?"

"Said you didn't want me to live my life being chased all the time." She instantly replied, surprised that she had pulled that up so quickly.

"Right, and how can I be chased when I'm the chaser? Jack," he took her hands this time, "I did it for you. I could find you and we could hunt together and not be chased." He reasoned, pushing the thought from his mind of why he was suddenly so talkative.

"But you didn't, I disappeared off the face of the universe." She continued, inwardly touched by what he had done.

"Right again. Understand now?" He asked, his rumbling voice gentle.

"Yeah, but," her tone took on a playful edge, "you didn't want to be chased anymore yourself. There is only so much attention Richard B. Riddick can handle, you big celebrity, you." She teased, making both of them smile.

Only then did she realize that she was sitting in his lap, almost straddling him. But she didn't care, seeing how she slumped forward and rested her head on his chest. Somehow it didn't bother either of them that they were mostly covered in blood, as Riddick let down her hair and idly played with it. When she spoke, he closed his eyes, thanking some god, or anything in general, that she had made her way back into his arms.

**Thanks to:**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed – **hoped you like her reaction, the next chapters are kinda semi exciting, kind of plotfillers too, but amusing plotfillers, I promise. Thanks for reviewing.

**Hey guys, I'm sorry for the lack of updating for about the past week. I violated a rule on with Jack's Every Step, which I really liked. But they took it off and wouldn't let upload chapters for a week. Sorry about that, but you can expect regular updates. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VIII**

**Hierarchy of Hunters**

They hadn't wanted to move Marius, so Jack found some extra blankets that they spread on the floor of the main room. It hadn't bothered either of them; Jack contentedly snuggled against Riddick's side, his arm holding her to him, his other hand resting on top of hers, which rested on his chest. At some point she had shivered and he had thrown another blanket over them and Jack had purred quietly. Riddick wasn't going to lie; he had missed this and more importantly, her.

He had undergone a sort of change once he had become the leader of his ring of hunters, he could live freely now, he was still Riddick, but he was a hunter. He had become better with people, like Laiker, but he was still hyper-aware of everything happening around him. Had he become a softie? He seriously doubted it, but he could speak to people easier, as he had just done with Jack earlier. In some ways, it was better then staying silent all the time, one could avoid physical wounds through talking.

He hadn't slept deeply like Jack had, but just enough to relax slightly. Riddick awoke sooner then she did and spent the quiet time running the hand that had rested on her waist through her hair. But the green eyes did flutter open and she let out a growling moan as she stretched against him. Smirking down at her as she looked up into his silver eyes, Riddick was struck by the thought that it would've been the perfect time to kiss her if an upset yell hadn't been heard from inside the ship.

Jack sat up and looked in the direction of the bedroom, where she had left Marius for the night. Undoubtedly he was upset; he had to share his mentor with someone else. Jack herself had been furious when she found out where Riddick had gone every night, enraged that she had to let him go to someone else. Riddick sat up behind her and made a point not to touch her, but their legs touched and she turned to look at him, sleepily smiling.

"Are you staying?" She asked, surprising him.

He nodded and with that confirmation, she stood and looked down at herself. Disgusting; half of her arms still had encrusted blood on them, besides the small part of her forearm and Riddick had cleaned, stitched and bandaged. She saw that Riddick was the same and he shrugged at her and stood as well, bending down to pick the blankets up off the floor.

He heard her muttering about a well-deserved shower as she walked down the hallway, entering the bedroom and the door closing behind her, the lock clicking shut. Riddick pulled out a chair from a small table and sat down heavily, using the time to think about what he was going to do. 

"Marius?" She asked cautiously, walking around the room. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was in there, his anger rolled off him in almost overwhelming waves of smell.

"Go 'way." He said, emerging from the darkest corner of the room. It looked like he hadn't slept all night and had been spending the better part of it crying.

"My ship, not going anywhere. Come here." She ordered, sitting down on the bed. He didn't move at first, but with a light glare from his mentor, he shuffled across the floor, flopping down next to her on the messy bed.

"You're jealous of the attention I'm giving him and you want him to leave." Jack summarized, staring the young boy down. He tried to talk, stammering that that wasn't true, but he had no luck.

"Marius, you can probably tell, but he and I…we have a history. We know each other and haven't seen each other for a long time." She felt like she was talking to a younger brother, a really stubborn one at that. She ruffled his hair slightly and he looked at her, a small smile spreading over his face.

"Yeah, I know. So, what's going to happen now?" He asked, putting the jealousy behind him. Even at his age he saw how beautiful Jack was and it was no mystery to him why Riddick would be after her.

"Good question. Going to ask him, want to come out and actually give proper introductions?" She asked, smirking as she stood. He playfully smacked her and she ruffled his hair even more and Marius laughed aloud. "Glad to hear it, you get started; I need to take a shower."

Before Marius could even protest she was in the bathroom and he could hear water running in the pipes overhead. He could sit here, say he was too scared and just read or he could actually step up to the plate and give it a go. He hated his conscious by the time he reached the main room, where he found Riddick sitting in a chair, his eyes clearing of thoughts. He could stumble over his words and look stupid, or he could just say it in one long breath and have it over with. Marius went for the latter.

"I'm Marius, I don't have friends or family besides Jack and she is the only reason I'm not sitting in the bedroom reading. She's in the shower by the way." He just spit out, wondering where the hell his thoughts got disconnected. The larger man let out a deep laugh and stood, easily overshadowing Marius.

"You only had to tell me your name, kid." He spoke, Marius instantly not liking being referred to as a kid. "You know who I am and yes I know she's in the shower."

Silence reigned for a while in the room, Riddick still standing over the young boy, judging his appearance, character and physical strength. The escape move he had pulled on him yesterday was impressive and he had to congratulate Jack. She hadn't just taught him everything she knew, but changed it to what his strengths were. Neither were backing down and finally Riddick realized he should really do something about this, seeing how Jack would appearing soon and be slightly pissed if they had just gotten through names. But Marius surprised him first.

"How do you know Jack?" He asked, walking to the hallway wall and sliding down it, looking up at the imposing figure of Riddick.

"How much do you know about her past?" He shot back, leaning against the opposite wall.

"Nothing. I didn't tell mine, she didn't tell hers." Marius replied, still intent. "So? When did you guys meet?"

"Look, kid, I don't think she'd be too happy if I revealed her past to you. I'll just say we met a while ago, she was a different person then." He spoke vaguely, not daring to risk Jack's wrath. Last night she had only been confused so she wasn't too dangerous, but he was sure that Jack could inflict serious damage if reason called for it.

"I could've figured that out." Marius said from the floor, his head swinging to the right as the bedroom door opened and a fresh, clean Jack walked out, readjusting the straps on her bugnucks. She looked up to see the two males in her life watching her and she smiled briefly.

"I bet you two didn't even get past names." She smirked, walking through them and into the cockpit. Riddick growled at Marius, who scrambled up and followed Jack, Riddick behind him. Jack had taken her place in the pilot's chair and the two men stood, neither really knowing who should sit in the copilot's seat.

"We actually got around to asking about your past." Marius replied, eyeing the chair. Jack mentally groaned; this was going to take a while.

"And…" She continued, glancing at Riddick, not giving any thought to the fact that she could feel him gazing at her, watching her every movement.

"And _he_," Marius spoke with obvious distaste, "said he wouldn't tell me anything. You've never told me anything, Jack. I would have never guessed that in your past the ex-convict and most-chased-bounty was around."

"As it should be." Jack spoke firmly and coldly. She was glad Riddick had told Marius nothing; the young boy didn't need to know. Jack still saw the pain of rejection and anger in Marius' eyes when he realized she really wasn't going to tell him anything. A few glances later, Marius gave up and returned to the bedroom, flinging himself onto the bed and opening up his book where he left off.

"Real smooth, Jack." Riddick stated, seating himself in the copilot's chair.

"He doesn't need to know." She didn't even try to reason, she just spoke. "Riddick," this got his attention, "Why does he need to know?"

"Why did you need to know about my past?" He quietly replied, not looking at her, but he felt her eyes bore into his head. The answer slowly formed in her mind and she realized it must be the same need that Marius had to know hers. It made sense now, seeing how he was once her idol.

"I wanted to know because I thought that if you and I were alike when we were young, I could be like you when I grew up. But does Marius consider me…an idol?" The thought was strange to Jack; she wasn't sure how she felt about someone looking up to her with such a passion.

"I wouldn't put it past him." Riddick said shortly, his silver eyes meeting her now softer green ones. "Jack, we can't stay in this ship forever, I've got hunters to control." He changed the subject, preparing for the verbal onslaught as he saw her eyes darken.

"You've got a life, for once. I was looking for you, but you found me instead. I considered dropping Marius to Imam, he wouldn't mind, but I won't do what you did. No reason to put him through such…mental agony." She almost spit the last words, old feelings resurfacing. How she had hated him for abandoning her like that, so she wasn't going to do it to Marius. "Return to your hunters, we don't need to pair up."

This shocked Riddick, he would have thought after all those years and even last night she would've been glad to join his hunting ring. Yet when he looked in her eyes, they held no sacrificing pain, just confidence and contempt.

"Who said I was giving you a choice?" He shot back, his voice rising. "Who saved your ass last night, Jack? Certainly wasn't the kid and you didn't seem so perfect either."

"I am _not _controlled by you," she snarled, standing and glaring down at him. "Both Marius and I know that what happens can't be changed and if we were to die last night, then nothing could have been done. I think I should have the choice of when I want to find you and settle." Her eyes were blazing now and her muscles tensed, Riddick noting that her fingers were alarmingly close to the trigger release of her bugnucks.

"Controlled? Kid," he stood, his voice rumbling with a cruel humor, "you can't even control your own dreams." 

As Riddick held an ice pack to his jaw and side of his face, he mused that he should have seen it coming. But he was distracted as Laiker walked into the main room, carrying two shot glasses and what looked to be ancient vodka. The second man grinned devilishly as he poured two shots, sliding one over to Riddick's side of the table.

"So, I take it that little meeting didn't go so well?" He asked, knowing fully well what had happened when Riddick had stormed onto the ship, half of his face already bruising in what looked like claw marks.

"Shut it, Laiker. I'm just happy that she wasn't using the sharp side of her bugnucks." He grumbled, remembering how he felt the dulled and sheathed claws backhanded into the side of his face.

"What are you going to do? Tis the season of worthless chases and even worse bounties, we don't have anyone to hunt for at least two months." Laiker asked, pouring himself another shot. He saw that his leader hadn't touched his glass, instead looking off into another world, his hand clenched around the icepack. Riddick took it off the side of his face and held it in his hand, glancing at the vodka.

"Following her seems stalker-like, doesn't it?" He asked, wincing as feeling returning to the numb side of his face. She had done a number on him and that was just with one passionate backhanded slap.

"Aye, it does. Look, it's not like she is going to purposely leave our territory. She knows that when she's in our grounds she is safe from Bellger's remains." But the knowing look that Riddick held told him otherwise. "Ah crap, she's one of those girls who would intentionally leave a safe area just to tempt fate, isn't she?"

Riddick nodded, reaching for the shot glass and downing it fast, smacking the small glass down on the table. He slid it across the table, letting it bounce off the vodka bottle and into Laiker's waiting hand. Smirking, the man poured Riddick another shot and slid it directly across. Drinking like this was a simple pastime to them, but they weren't alcoholics.

Riddick craned his head back to watch another one of his better hunters walk down the ship's hallway, well aware that he could never sneak up on his leader. Impossible, but he liked it that way. His face winced in sympathy when he saw the bruises across Riddick's face and he swung himself into another chair at the table, flipping it backwards so he straddled it.

"Oy, ye bitches drink vodka like the Brits drank tea!" He exclaimed, seeing how the once full bottle was more then half empty. Riddick mentally frowned, how much had Laiker drank? "Well, 'twasn't considerate for ye not to bring me a glass, but who gives a fuck when it's vodka?" He asked to no one, grabbing the bottle's neck and taking a large swig of vodka straight from the bottle.

"At least we have manners." Laiker mused, watching the newcomer shake his head slightly to get used to the hard alcohol. "Really Rex, you would think a guy of your size would be born with a resistance to alcohol."

The man in question shot him a warning glare and Riddick growled; he didn't need two of his best hunters fighting out a petty argument. It was true, Rex, short for T-Rex, was unimaginably large. He stood well above Riddick and his body mass surpassed his combined with Laiker's and maybe a little more. He got his name from the absolute brute strength he had, but he wasn't a fool, his strategies had saved Riddick and his team more then once.

"Riddick," Rex turned to his leader who leveled a glare at him. "What's goin' to 'appen now?"

"He isn't sure yet. Probably be a stalker." Laiker put in and Riddick was about a second away from pelting his shot glass at the man's head.

"I don't know yet, is the crew asking?" Riddick questioned and Rex shook his head.

"But they want to know how ye go' tha' nasty wound." He added, making Laiker snicker. "No offense, sir, but-" Rex started to apologize, seeing the dark look transforming Riddick's face.

"Rex, feel free to beat the shit out of Laiker." He growled, making Laiker pale and Rex grin. Riddick stood and began to walk back to the galley, which led to the mess hall of his ship. As he heard the oncoming noise of his crew, Riddick realized that Jack would probably have gotten along with them, if not used them as personal punching bags. But this thought was cut short when he heard Laiker yelp from the main room and a small grin appearing on his face, Riddick walked through the galley and into the mess hall.

**Thanks to the reviewers of chapters 5 and 6:**

**TeaCat – Hope you liked this one, yep I was little fizzy on the plot level so I was like "hmm, I'll do something like…this!"**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed – Yes, you can see Jack has yet to learn to live with Riddick in general. The rule? I have no idea, something about lyrics. Thanks for reviewing.**

**SueBe – I loved reading your review, it sounds like I've made a sort of Three Bears story out of this or something. Your ideas and questions are good, I might incorporate some of them, with your permission, though. I'm having a lot of fun writing it and I hope you still like reading it.**

**Frek – Thanks for reviewing. Yeah, as you can see and will later see, I have a thing for Riddick and Jack flashbacks, they're just so much fun. Yeah, I wasn't sure I was going to get him there, but this worked out so much better and I'm very pleased. Hope you are too.**

**Iridescent Twilight – Both chapters. I love you still. Yeah, I don't know what it is with the 'M' names. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII**

**Who's the Hunter now?**

Deep into space, Marius ventured out of the bedroom, not daring to do so before, especially after hearing the vicious discourse between Riddick and Jack. At first he had been glad that Jack had kicked him off the ship, but then he wanted to sympathize slightly with the older man; he had to guess it wasn't too much fun to be backhanded with sheathed bugnucks. Carefully stepping into the main room, he padded through that and stopped at the door of the cockpit, which had been left open.

Jack was moodily glaring out into space, looking very unpredictable to Marius. But he had gone this far and was still breathing, so he quietly made his way to the copilot's seat and sat down, glancing at Jack. Her face was as icy as her presence, giving off nothing but a steady and pure stream of contempt. Gulping, Marius cleared his throat but still her neck didn't turn to show that she was listening. While a part of Marius was afraid for what she might do, the remaining part was very worried about her; even if she did lash out, he still cared.

"Jack?" He tried. No movement and certainly no reply. "Um, sorry about before, when I kind of ran out on you. I wanted to know just because…I was curious I guess." Now Marius looked out into space, but he kept talking. "I never really told you much about who I was, well, am, but what the hell, you understand." By now he relaxed into the chair, his eyes flitting back and forth among the stars. "To tell the truth, I was hoping you could guess it, maybe because you might've had the same experiences too. But I doubt you're the average story of the average runaway kid. I am; you've heard this a million times before I bet. Left on the steps of an orphanage, bullied constantly by the older kids, ran away, yeah, you could just look at me and know that."

He continued to aimlessly talk, remembering stories from a few years ago, sometimes frowning or smiling as he told them. He didn't see when Jack's face softened or even when she tilted her head slightly to look at him. Jack wasn't even sure he realized she was still sitting next to him or that he was even on a ship and this made her smile slightly. Were they alike? Surely there were some similarities, but Jack let the information of her charge's past stockpile in her mind, saving it for closer looks later.

"-and I remember how bright and sunny that day was. It was during lunch and I said I had to go to the bathroom. They let me go and I almost ran up to the boy's dorm, diving under my bed to get the sheets and pillow cases I had slowly been stealing from the laundry baskets. I had tied them into a rope at night, every knot as tight and firm as a sailor's. Anyway, I threw my small knapsack over my shoulder and opened the window. I won't forget that smell of freedom, the fresh salty air just hitting me in the face. I tied one end to the bed, the other I threw out the window, making sure it didn't pass any other ones on the way down. Before I climbed out I checked to make sure I had my 'winter' boots on, they have better treads and would last longer. So there I went, dropping to the street and running to the wharf. I raced along the railing, beneath the screeching seagulls and the through the stink of rotting fish. Straight to the port, where I used up all of my savings just to get on the next ship out of there. Damn I was ignorant…" he trailed off, obviously working out the next memory he was about to tell her. But before he could Jack spoke, making him jump.

"We met in a very unlikely scenario. About…oh I don't know, maybe a few minutes or a few hours after I was jolted out of cyro-sleep. That ship, the one you took off on, my version of that ship crashed. On this desert planet, filled with these monsters that only came out at night. To make a long story short, he was being transported on that ship by a fucker merc named Johns. Riddick and I really bonded more once we were on the escape skiff, we were the only survivors besides Imam, and he had been making a journey to New Mecca, on Helion Prime." Jack finished, smiling when she saw how enraptured Marius was by her past. Of course she had skimmed over the parts about the rest of the survivors of the crash, but not of the planet.

"What about your childhood?" He asked, not caring what dangerous territory he could be wandering into.

"Another time, Marius. And no need to apologize for before, I realize now I wasn't being fair. But yes, we did have pretty similar childhoods." With that ending note, his face brightened considerably.

"Jack?" He asked, watching her move forward in her seat to start setting coordinates for some destination. Her questioning 'hm' in reply gave him the ok to continue. "I thought you wanted to be with Riddick."

He saw how her hand froze and hovered in midair, above the button that completely set the course into the mainframe of the ship. Marius wondered if he had done the wrong thing as she sat back in her seat, not setting the course. After a few seconds of quiet breathing and thinking, she began to reset the course and this unnerved him.

"I mean, sure you hadn't seen him a while, but why didn't you let him stay longer?" He asked, nervously glancing out the window.

"Wasn't quite ready yet, that's all." She said, sounding eerily content and positive about it. Marius slid back into his seat and gulped, he didn't have a good feeling about the direction they were taking. 

The room was pitch black except for the center, where the makeshift arena was brightly lit. Two shirtless men were fighting in the center, throwing undercuts and swiftly bringing their knee up, attempting to momentarily disable the other man. The lights just lit the closest spectators, who were yelling insults or support to the fighters in the ring. It seemed that the room continued forever, the only break in it being the raised platform that was about nine feet away from the edge of the ring. A large chair sat atop it, bolted into the steel platform. It was a throne of sorts; the only visible features of it the claws that covered the ends of the armrests and the bases of the legs. Frightening and hellish demons were etched into the flat back of the chair, surrounding the head of whoever sat in it.

It was being used now, the imposing dark figure seated upon it looking on the fight without interest. Only bare strips of light lit the figure, so it was almost impossible to tell that someone was there at all. The light also glinted off the steel chair, so it was almost a shadow king that watched the fighters. He growled at the raw idiocy that he saw the fighters using, just aimlessly trying to hurt each other, absolutely no strategy to it.

The two fighters were circling each other, blood dripping from cracked lips, torn knuckles and bruises already shining with the sweat. They were deaf to the shouts and cries around them, everything going slower for them as they decided their next move. In a rare act of stupidity, one of the fighters glanced up, knowing he was facing the 'throne'. He was suddenly caught by the two silver eyes that could haunt someone from the darkness, almost like a warning from death itself. The other fighter took this chance and rushed at him, knocking him to the floor. In a few more seconds the fight was over and they rolled off the ring, limping away, their fellow hunters helping them.

It had been the last fight of the series and the next trials wouldn't start for another week. The room slowly emptied, but the figure on the throne didn't move, watching each hunter leave and move about. Only when the room was empty did he rise from his seated position, dropping from the raised platform to the floor and walking to the still-lit arena.

He easily pulled himself up onto the ring and walked into it, his eyes avoiding the bright lights as he walked around it, smelling the lost blood and saliva of each fighter that had battled in that ring tonight. Determination was one scent he caught easily, anger another, and a few scattered whiffs of fear. The last thing he wanted in a hunter was fear and he would watch closer the next time the trials started. But his head snapped up as the lights suddenly dimmed slightly overhead. A purple figure walked towards the arena and pulled itself up onto the ring, standing a few feet away.

"Trials aren't going to last forever, you know." He said, looking at the leftover gore of the fights on the sandy ring. "After next weeks trials you fight the survivors and you pick new top hunters. After that we just have to wait it out until the next chase runs across our path. That could take a while."

"I'm well aware." The other man spoke, his silver eyes tracking the movements of the other man with him.

"Rex and I were saying that we've never seen you so bored by a seventh round trial. Look, something's got to be on your mind, Riddick." He said, trying to reason with his leader. Usually throughout the fights, his eyes would be flicking back and forth between the fighters, but he had seen no such interest in the battles tonight.

"Your perception astounds me." Riddick growled, looking up into Laiker's eyes. "You're right, something is bothering me. But I'm not doing anything about it until the ninth trials finish."

"Two weeks is a long time to let something dig around in your head." Laiker commented, slipping off the ring with his leader, who began to walk towards the doors. He jogged to catch up with him, barely able to keep up with the longer stride of the other man.

"You heard me, nothing until the end of the ninth trials." Riddick said again, emphasizing the order with a glare. The rest of the walk was silent, Laiker's mind racing. 

Marius had fallen asleep and Jack had carried him to bed, tucking him in, watching to make sure he was actually asleep. Deciding he was, she had returned to the cockpit, eagerly working on a new plan that was forming in her mind.

She had to admit, she wasn't sure where this brilliant sneakiness had come from, but she was glad she had it. Jack was creating a fake identity, of a criminal that didn't exist who committed crimes that had never happened and who had a bounty that would make Riddick himself jealous. Was this a dangerous idea? Yes, it definitely was, someone could copy this mystery criminal and then real havoc would be let loose, but Jack was determined to drive Riddick mad before she would willingly join his hunting ring. Jack had the identity and crimes waiting to be sent out via a hunter's chain, which would send the information to all the different rings. Now she had to make the information impossible to base, so no one would be tracking her. This was a little harder, but she had time.

Jack had read up on hunting rings, specifically Riddick's. There was a certain part of the hunting 'season' where good chases just happened not to appear for a set amount of time. It was strange, seeing how it barely varied a day every cycle of the chasing season. Interested, Jack had read on and discovered during this time, most rings would have trials. It would invite all aspiring hunters and ones that hadn't cemented their hold in the ring to fight their way to the top. In Riddick's, he had made it so there were nine trials. The first few were tedious, seeing how fights could last seconds or hours, depending on who was chosen. Yet the pickings would properly thin out over time, the fights becoming more intense as they reached the end of the trials. The seventh and eighth trials were vital, a week in between each of them for the surviving fighters to recover. Yet the most exciting was the ninth trial, where the hunters Riddick thought were most strong and loyal would fight the remaining fighters. There were two hunters that were the top ones besides Riddick and only the best of the survivors fought those two. If either one of those would beat them, Riddick himself would step into the ring and fight the survivor.

Jack had noted with amusement and a hint of pride that no one had gotten past the top two hunters, seeing how Riddick had personally trained them. A little bit of the ex-convict in everyone, she guessed, realizing that they had just finished the seventh trial. So two more weeks until the lull in the season really set in and that was when she would strike.

She would also set trails for them to follow, but she hadn't quite planned how to end it. Jack grinned impishly, deciding that she would leave an infuriating hint or two that only Riddick would get. Oh, she really was going to enjoy this.

**Thanks to these reviewers:**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed – Yeah, they're super picky about that. Well, just means I'll be sticking to this sort of story and I assume you don't object. Eventually she'll meet them, and yep, I bet they'll get along…great.**

**SueBe – We all love a stubborn Jack, it's so much more fun this way. Now not only is she stubborn but she's a trickster. Mwaha. Yeah, just so you know, there might be future Marius angst. **

**njrd – I know, he'll get over it soon enough. Like I said in response to SueBe, there might be some Marius angsting. Feel free to ask what.**

**IT – You're terrible, you know that? Yeah, I so want to make Riddick this fuzzy thing but I'm like "No! No! No OOC!" And it's pretty damn hard. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter IX**

**Between Plotting and Planning**

Jack was unusually happy over the next few days and Marius was a little wary of it at first, but soon became accustomed to it. He had absolutely no idea what she had up her sleeve and creeping from behind her bugnucks, but her immediate smile at his appearance and the continuing kind grin at his very voice couldn't of made him care less. Yet beneath the happiness he knew that she was longing for Riddick and he wasn't sure how he felt about this; Jack was technically his. Well, that's what he wanted to think, but he wasn't going to share her so easily, that was for sure.

On the other hand, Jack could barely sit still for the next two weeks, too excited to think or even eat and somehow she still got her training in, especially Marius'. But late one night, only some two or three days away from the big start, she wondered why she was really doing this. Riddick meant a lot to her, that much was true, so why was she going to torture him like this? He would be angry at her for leading him and his hunters on a wild goose chase that didn't even end in a bounty. But they would still get the thrill of the hunt, so did it really matter that the bounty was fake?

As she leaned back in the chair she thought back to a few older memories and then the more recent one, but each showed a clear gesture of affection from Riddick to her.

_Jack listened at the door of Imam's study, wincing at the fierce argument dying out within the room. She crouched beneath the door handle, ready to sprint away if they approached the door. _

"_I will not keep you in my house. The girl can stay, but you must go. You are nothing but a threat to us now!" Imam yelled, his accented voice sounding harsh. _

"_Me? A threat? To people I saved? I don't know where your mind fucked you up, but last time I checked, you owed me something besides this shit." Riddick shot back, clearly as angry as the other man._

"_You endanger my house by just breathing in it! And the girl as well, you will pollute her mind and-" he was cut off by the snarling ex-convict._

"_Say what you want about me, but leave her out of this. Where I go, she goes." He stated, making Jack's heart leap. _

"_Absolutely not! You will do nothing but damage and blacken her soul! She needs a maternal figure, not some murderer like you!" Imam argued, causing her to frown; she hoped dearly that Riddick would win this one._

"_Maternal? What she needs is someone who she knows can and will protect her, holy man. She ran away from the last 'maternal' figure, so that is the last thing she needs." Riddick shot back, a low growl forming deep in his throat. _

"_Fine, take her with you. But you had better stay on Helion Prime, because when you leave, which you will I'm sure, she will need a home to be in." Imam reasoned and Riddick agreed, but all Jack needed to know was that Imam had given up the verbal battle. _

_This is how they had ended up in that shabby apartment, still on Helion Prime, just a different part of it. To her dismay, Imam had been right and Riddick had left her with him after a few years. They had jumped the planets in the Helion system, each one confusing the mercs chasing after them, but never quite long enough. But besides that, Jack had been touched by that kindness Riddick had given to her. _

_Jack had been waiting for Riddick to return from one of his night jobs and she was sitting in the room they shared to sleep in. At first he seemed reluctant, but after he realized how terrible her nightmares actually were, he rarely was elsewhere when she slept. So as she waited, she fidgeted a little, wondering where he was. He was a little later then normal, but she couldn't depend on him to return on a certain minute and hour of the night, so she gave it a little slack. _

_Suddenly her back straightened and her ears pricked up as she heard something heavily slump against the front door of the apartment. Biting her tongue, she looked to where Riddick kept a shiv hidden in the wall, in case she was alone and needed a weapon. Snatching it up, she went out and into the entry way, where she stood just feet from the door. Jack heard someone struggle to stand, just able to use the walls and door as a support. She was even more startled when she heard this person talking, but immediately recognized it as Riddick. _

"_Jack, I can," his breathes were short, "smell you. Get out here." He ordered and Jack opened the door and yelped when he fell forward and she caught him, barely able to lower him to the floor. She looked up when she heard him kick the door shut, the lock clicking with the slam. But her attention was drawn to Riddick, his larger body resting on hers, hers just being able to support him. His head rested on her shoulder and his upper torso was barely relaxed against her body and lap. _

"_Riddick? Riddick!" She insisted, gripping onto him harder then she intended. He cracked one silver eye opened and to her horror, she saw that he looked exhausted and beaten, something that was brand new to her. _

"_Not so loud, Jack." He said, groaning as he tried to shift. But Jack held him fast and demanded to know what was wrong with him. "Tranquilizer dart mixed with some poison. I'll work it off, just…"_

"_Don't you dare," Jack snarled, looking directly at him. "You're going to be ok; everything's going to be fine." She said, almost demanding it from the fates. _

_Riddick didn't reply but reached his free hand that had been around Jack's waist up to her hair and she froze as she felt him undo her hair. It fell freely down her back and over her shoulders and in an animal gesture; he nuzzled it, smelling the unique smell of Jack. He gently curled his large paw of hand in her black locks, his eyes fluttering shut as he began to relax against her. Within seconds he was asleep, more deeply then Jack had ever seen him and then she realized she was sitting in the middle of the room. With no wall to lean on to help her support his weight and certainly no way to really move without having her hair ripped out. _

_Yet Jack managed as she always did, inch by inch moving his body with hers and finally she caught her breath, leaning on the wall. Riddick hadn't moved positions much, his hand still entangled in her hair and his warm breath softly blowing over her exposed collarbone. Holding him, Jack wondered what it would be like when he woke up, but for now she just decided to enjoy it and she rested her cheek on top of his head, closing her eyes as well. _

Riddick sat, wholly un-amused by the eighth trial that was occurring before him. There was some talent, and he had spotted this in the first if not second trials, so he just waited for the others to be rooted out and had kept an eye on the few good ones. Yet he growled when one of them used what he would consider a merc move, attacking from behind. That in itself was enough to have the fighter kicked out and Riddick gave a slight nod to Laiker, who moved through the crowds towards the ring.

Soon the fight was ended and the next to contestants came up, dipping their heads in respect to Riddick and yet both looked warily at him, moodily spread out over the steel throne. Riddick had been hearing rumors flying through his hunters, especially about the claw bruises that had just barely started to fade away. But the hunters he had told on the ship had cleared up most of the rumors, but Riddick had dealt with some himself, scaring the shit out of those who had started them. But his attention turned back to the fight, where one fighter was clearly superior to the other. The better one was mocking his opponent and Riddick growled at this as well, this was another tactic he didn't approve of. His hunters chased in silence. The fight had ended, the more brutal of the two winning and the other barely alive, almost disfigured as he lay harshly breathing on the arena.

Riddick had never been one to step into the trials, especially before his due time, but this had gone too far. Standing from his throne, he stepped forward and dropping into the crowd, who quickly made room for him to walk. He strode forward, his very presence alarming those who had not yet gotten out of his way. From the hunters that had parted for him silence spread and soon the entire room had gone deadly quiet and the winner looked around, wondering what had happened. He paled when he saw Riddick pull himself up onto the ring, ignoring him and kneeling down towards the seriously injured man.

"I…sir…you…" the winner stuttered, amazed to finally meet the man who led this hunters ring, which was one of the elite ones in the entire known universe.

"I didn't appear to listen to you trip over your own words like a child." Riddick smoothly said, not looking at him.

Riddick reached out and trying not to wince at the damage he saw laid the body properly out, the defeated man barely able to breathe. He was furious in short, how dare a man break another one, especially in a battle field like this where the judge knew exactly who was better then the other from the start of the fight.

"Laiker! Rex!" Riddick barked and the two men swung themselves up onto the arena, awaiting his next orders. "Rex, carry this man to the med bay, Laiker, go with him and start treating his wounds."

Rex carefully scooped up the man in his arms, looking down at him with sympathy as Laiker undid the rope fence around the ring, glancing at Riddick. He mouthed to him: 'Don't do something stupid', but with another cold glare, he followed Rex out of the room, the crowd parting once more. Riddick stood and immediately overshadowed the other man, intimidating him even more.

"What did you do to him?" He asked, his voice echoing in the large room.

"Defeated him." He replied quickly.

"How?" Riddick demanded; he wasn't going to let this off lightly.

"By fighting…" he trailed off, unsure of where to go.

"You broke him with brute force. You will give hunters a bad name if you walk into this ring and try to chase like this. As such," Riddick snarled, making the man pale, "next week, the ninth trials, I am ordering you to a challenge against me. We will fight and you will know how he felt." He heard murmurs of agreement sweeping through the crowd as he dismounted the ring and walked out of the fighting room.

Riddick later looked out over his city of night, his arms crossed over his chest and his goggles off and hooked onto his pants. But he wasn't watching the people move between houses and streets, his thoughts weren't even in the same planetary system. When he had returned from visiting the man in the med bay, he had thought that Jack would've handled that better. The moment he thought of her, the floodgates of his memories opened with a rusty cry. 

"_Riddick?" Jack poked her head into their room, seeing that he was still lying in bed. He did this after a particularly rough night and he had smelled that Jack had made him breakfast, or had attempted to. _

"_Hm?" He propped himself up on his elbows and looked on in an amused manner as she bumped the rest of the door open with her hip and carried in a tray. Of what he couldn't recognize, but he think he had seen something like it in an old earth restaurant. He didn't even know they had had those ingredients to make pancakes, but then he realized that she had gone out herself. Alone. The very thought made his spine stiffen and his blood run cold; how could he have not waken up when she went out the front door?_

"_Breakfast. Eat up." She said, waiting until he sat up to put the tray on his lap. Once he was holding it, she clambered up onto the small bed, sitting near his feet. _

"_I don't care how bright it was outside, you went out alone. It-"_

"_Isn't safe, yeah, I know. Are you going to eat those damn things? I put a whole shitload of work into them." Jack insisted, not caring that she had disobeyed his orders. _

"_Jack, there is enough sugar on and in these…things to charge a power cell for the fucking skiff." He replied, taking the first bite of this syrup soaked pastry-like breakfast foods. Barely swallowing it down, he was about to refuse to eat them but the lopsided grin that she gave up made him do otherwise and he ignored how his stomach rumbled in protest. _

_When he was done, he set the tray aside and waited for Jack to bounce up onto her side of the bed. She did just this and snuggled against his side, giving him easy access to her hair. She had made sure all traces of sticky syrup had been washed off, but after that incident with the tranquilizer he had had this thing where he liked to play with her hair. Sure enough she felt his hand carding through it, both of them silent except for the exchange of heartbeats that each heard._

Riddick dragged his hands over his face, wondering how long it would really be until hunting season kicked in again. Maybe he could get his mind off of her, both in the memories and what he had seen. He decided that he wouldn't go looking for her and that he should let her come to him, but he had to admit that temptation's name was Jack. Riddick hoped the first hunt would be the best of the first part of the season, a real chase. Little did he know that it was going to the longest, hardest and least rewarding chase of his career.

**Thanks to these reviewers:**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed – Woo! Jack's is definitely going to give him a head trip. Or so I hope. Thanks for reviewing!**

**IT – MUNCHIES! Do you have those little bonbon things? You know, the ice cream bite size bits?**

**njrd – Glad you like the story and soon we'll have a tad more Marius angst. I promise. **

**Wildfire962000 – I'm so very glad you like it! **

**FlyNAlien – Thanks so much for your…inspiring review! More chapters will be appearing soon. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter X**

**Winners and Tricksters**

Riddick stood victoriously over the man he had challenged just a week before. Now he lay on the ring, broken, bleeding and pitifully crying in the only light of the room, which was spotlight. At first the men had cheered for their leader, tossing insults at the once-winner. But then they began to realize that this was a punishment being dealt out and the room was relatively quiet, the only sounds being the grunts and sickening cracks as fists and legs flew. When he was finally down, a single hunter reached out into the ring and in a very cruel and dishonorable manner, dragged the defeated fighter off the ring by his neck. Riddick approved of this as he stepped off the ring, the crowd parting for him as he approached his 'throne'.

Laiker and Rex stood on either side of the throne, one holding a cloth and the other a small bowl of water. Riddick stood on the platform and gave the signal for the ninth trial to officially begin. Sitting heavily into the metal armchair, he gratefully accepted the bowl and cloth, washing his bloodied hands and wiping his face of sweat.

"You can go if you want," he said, placing the bowl and damp cloth at his feet. He saw Rex shoot Laiker a confused glance and he laughed.

"I think he meant it." Laiker said, still sounding confused.

"I did," Riddick replied, still chuckling. He watched the fight start as his two best hunters descended into the crowds. The ninth trial was always his favorite and even better when he could start it with a fight of his own. He suddenly thought that Jack wouldn't have stopped and would've fought him to the death, her ferocious nature released into the ring. Grinning, Riddick knew that Jack would then make his two best hunters a trio and maybe beat them as well.

The fight was going on as he thought, but to tell the truth, he was more excited for the first hunt then watching the new pups that would be serving his hunters. They had to serve before they got to hunt, but to get this far was an accomplishment, so Riddick wasn't going to be listening to any complaints. But as he sat on his steel throne, his entire being itched to have the adrenaline running again. Oh how he couldn't wait. 

Jack could barely sit still. She knew it was driving Marius crazy, but she couldn't wait to start sending the hints and clues. She would let it out that there was a bounty, a high one that might be tempting to hunters. But the line that she had created to go with the bounty was somewhere along the lines of "Impossible to catch."

She knew this would get Riddick's attention and the race would be off. Jack blessed any god or fate that only one hunting group could go for a chase at a time. The way it worked was that the one hunting ring that would amass the largest amount of 'kills', not bounty, would get to choose which hunts they wanted to pursue. Riddick's group had been top dog since he was the leader, so she knew that he got the best of the best hunts. Also, the first hunt of the season went to them and Jack was sure she was that hunt.

The restless energy that was buzzing in her could've been put to better use then just sitting at the control panel, digging up information on hunting rings, but Jack couldn't care less. That is until Marius let out a pained cry and she almost broke the sliding door in an effort to get out of her chair. Marching forward with determination, she went down the hallway and into the bedroom, smelling blood. Marius stood frozen in the room, watching with a fascination as blood seeped from his wound, running in rivulets down his arm. Jack didn't need to know anymore when she saw him holding one the extra daggers she kept under the bed in case anything were to happen.

"Marius!" She barked, making him snap out of his trance.

"I…Jack, it's a mistake, I didn't think it would-" he was cut off by her shushing him, prying the bloodied weapon out of his other hand. Setting it on the floor, she gripped the back of his neck with her hand and steered him out the door and into the med bay.

"Up on the counter." She ordered and he obeyed, watching her move swiftly, picking up bandages, alcohol wipes and some needle and thread.

"I was just curious, it sounded like this dagger I was reading about and I went to look. I was holding it with the blade facing me and suddenly…" he trailed off, his eyes widening slightly.

Jack's head snapped up and she coldly stared at him and demanded to know what he was thinking. When he wouldn't reply she sighed and began to work at his arm, wiping away the extra blood. It didn't look like it needed stitches, so she put them away. Yet as she bandaged his arm, her mind was nearly spinning out of control. What had he realized?

"Marius," she started, pulling herself up to her full height, "tell me what you were going to say," she said softly, wiping her hands of his blood. The significance that Marius picked up in this gesture went unseen by Jack, who was now curiously watching him, especially the movements of his eyes. Clearly it was something that would embarrass him, so she didn't want to press him to spill out his innermost thoughts and feelings.

"Thanks, Jack." He said, pushing himself off the counter and walked straight past her and out the med bay door. Jack heard him go back into the bedroom and seeing that she had finished cleaning, followed him.

The blade hadn't been moved, but Marius sat on the bed, looking deeply engrossed in his book. She moved to pick up the blade, realizing she should clean it before the blood completely dried and caked. Holding it in her fist, she stood watching Marius, who was either pretending to read and doing a very good job of it or was actually so absorbed in his book he didn't see her standing before him. Not wanting to push him any further, she walked out the door and back up to the cockpit, where she dug around for her kit.

As she watched the blade slowly come back to shining life, Jack wondered what it was that had gotten him so stubborn and quiet. Why wouldn't he talk about it? What was it? These questions beat at her mind like the ocean during a storm against a jagged face of cliff. The problem was that Jack had time, so she could only use it to think. Setting the now-clean blade down on the control panel, she propped her feet up on the empty co-pilots seat and let herself fall into her thoughts and memories, hoping to find a solution. 

Riddick was walking through the galley, responding to the joyful and drunken greetings that were shouted at him by a simple nod or grin. The ninth trial had ended and in the usual way of celebrating things, they pulled out all the booze they could find, drinking it all in a surprisingly short amount of time. Laiker was in the center of it all, standing on a table and slurring out improved comedy, much to the amusement of the new hunters and everyone else. A bottle of vodka in hand, he mumbled and shouted his humorous thoughts, always having them end with the roaring laughter of his fellow drunkards. Riddick had given his welcome to the new hunters, who had given him honest and strong hopes for the upcoming chases. Standing at the door, he mused how his older hunters had only let the new ones spend three days in recovery before they pulled out the alcohol and insisted that they become pissed drunk. He wouldn't be surprised if they told the new hunters that if they couldn't hold their alcohol that Riddick would kick them out of the ring. He was drawn from his thoughts as he heard Rex's form lumbering down the hallway with more speed then usual. Riddick turned his head over his shoulder and then turned his entire body, seeing how excited Rex looked.

"Sir, this is the _best_ chase we've ever had for the starting hunt. The bounty is…huge!" He kept going as he led Riddick to the main room and into the cockpit, whose blood was already racing at the thought of a hunt. He only caught the last part of the sentence before he sank down into his seat to read the file. "-and on top of all that, it's a woman!"

"You're telling me that some woman has a higher bounty then me?" Riddick asked, curious but he was sure his voice had an annoyed edge.

Rex only gestured to the screen and Riddick turned his attention to the file, carefully reading through it, picking up on the subtle information that would help him find the prey. Yet it was the last sentence that almost made him put the ship into hyperspeed just to get to the last system the woman was seen in. "Impossible to catch."

"We'll start on this tomorrow morning." Riddick said, not caring that his hunters would be so deep in hang-over that they would barely be able to grip a gun. 

Marius had reverted back to his old self by the next morning, appearing early and a little too bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for Jack's liking. But she didn't speak a word of what had happened the night before, ruffling his hair as she always did as she set down a plate of food in front of him. She sat across from him, watching him eat as she always did, reprimanding him when she thought he was wolfing down his food too fast. Jack wasn't much of an eater, but she knew she couldn't get a dependence on coffee so she drank water in the morning. For a moment she was dragged back into memories.

"_Ew, Riddick, can't you eat?" Jack complained, watching him use his knife for everything. He stopped and slowly put down his knife, looking directly at Jack. _

"_Well, Jack," he slowly said, swallowing his food, "there are two people here. One of them could give a flying fuck about table manners. The other…well, how much does it really matter?" He asked, not wanting to finish his original thought. _

_Jack picked up her spoon and fork and flashed him a quick smile before diving in to what was going to be one of his best memories of Jack being outright hilarious. _

"_Then let's take it one step at a time, caveman." She said, putting down the spoon. "This," she waved the fork around, "is what we civilized humans call a fork. Can you say that?"_

_He growled. _

"_Apparently not. We can work on speaking later; right now let's learn what we should've learned a LONG time ago. So," she was all sweet again, "a fork is an eating utensil that's used for picking up food that doesn't have any liquid to it. Sure it can be used for thick sauces, but that's what we have this," she put down the fork and held up the spoon, "for. And this," she looked sternly at him and for a moment Riddick wondered how serious she was about this. "Is a spoon. I'll admit," she put it down and put her empty hands up in mock defeat, "it isn't nearly as good as knives and forks for stabbing people. Human skin isn't so soft against a spoon, but if you're into the "Hmm-mm good intestines" deal, you can use the spoon for blood." _

_Jack ignored the obvious look of disgust and amusement on Riddick's face. Clearing her throat, she picked up the spoon again and started talking. _

"_This is good for soups, cereal, mixing drinks and ice cream. Yeah, that's about all I would use it for. So," Jack put down the spoon and picked up the fork. "What's this called?"_

"_Jack…" he warned._

"_No, it's not a 'Jack', it's a fucking fork! If you're this confused about tools and shit, we can go into that department later! It's a fork!" With fake annoyance, she slammed down the fork and picked up the spoon. Narrowing her eyes, she actually looked dangerous armed with the utensil. "Get this one wrong and I'm shoving it up. Your. Ass." She snarled and Riddick laughed aloud and soon her frown broke and she laughed too._

"_Damn, Jack, if this is the shit I'm going to get from you for eating, well; you could've warned me earlier." He said, getting up to take a fork and spoon from the drawer. _

"_Well," she replied, propelling cereal bits in her bowl with her spoon, "if you had table manners, that wouldn't have happened." _

_Riddick sat down hard in the seat across from her and just sighed, shaking his head. It only took a few glances of Jack watching him attempting to use a fork and knife for her to snort out the milk from her cereal. _

"_Fuck Jack! That's just nasty!" He shouted, wondering how the hell she managed to be hysterically laughing. She regained composure and was slightly miffed when Riddick reached over the table and took away her still-full bowl of cereal. _

"_Riddick! I was eating that!" She insisted, threatening him with her spoon._

"_Maybe if you could chew your food then I wouldn't have to take it away from you. I really don't think you need a lesson in how to chew food, but-" he was cut off by a spoon skidding onto his dish and making his food splatter onto him off his dish. Before he could even comprehend what had happened, he saw Jack running straight towards their room. With a roar he leapt up and followed._

"Jack? Jack?" Marius was almost an inch from her face as she shook herself from the amusing memory. He saw the cloudiness clear from her eyes and he backed up, onto the table that he had been crouching on. "You ok?"

"Fine," she replied with a smirk, "just fine."

**Thanks to these reviewers: **

**TotallyRiddickObsessed – How long? I don't know, seeing how terrible I am at updating now that I have actual work to do…could be a while. Chapter-wise? Hmm, depends on how long I drag out the chase. You want it soon, don't you?**

**SueBe- Jack/Riddick is the outcome, don't worry. I mean, it would be weird to have a Marius/Jack outcome, although the age difference probably wouldn't be much different between him and Jack and Jack and Riddick. But no, I'm a diehard Jack/Riddick fan. No worries there.**

**IT -  sigh . Do I even NEED to write anything here?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter XI**

**The Chased and The Chasers**

"Jack, I don't know if this is a good idea. We're heading straight towards Bellger territory." Marius said with doubt covering his voice. He was looking at the flight path that Jack had put in on the computer and had been surprised at her choice.

"Don't worry; the guy's dead and the last place they will look for me is in their own territory." Jack reasoned, sounding very calm and relaxed about the entire ordeal. She had informed Marius earlier of her plans to take Riddick on a wild goose chase, if just for revenge.

"You are taking the first hunt of the season through a territory that isn't even ruled! On top of that, it's not just any hunters following us, it's _his_!" Marius almost spat the last word; he had gotten to view Riddick with disgust, but he knew it was nothing short of jealousy. He almost shrank in his seat when he was on the receiving end of a very suspicious glare from Jack.

"So you've lost faith in me, then." She said quietly, looking back out the front view. Her thoughts were hidden from him but he thought over what she said, not wanting to burst out suddenly. "Do as you wish; the next port we stop down on feel free to leave. You can survive on your own now."

"Jack, No! You can't force me!" He shouted, standing from his seat. He received a cool look from his mentor, who motioned for him to sit back down.

"I'm just giving you the choice that I never had." She said, making Marius frown. How he wished he knew more about her past, but he didn't ask her then. Getting out of the seat again, he left the cockpit, closing the door softly behind him.

Jack glanced at the door and sighed softly to herself, knowing and still hoping that she was doing the right thing. Yet she wasn't deterred from her course; she was doing this to show him that absolutely no one could boss her around. And that no one could call her 'kid' and actually think she was going to still act like one. With her resolves cemented in mind, Jack took the ship off of auto pilot and began to open transmission for a radio signal to Klitengor, another space station that marked the boundaries of Bellger territory. 

"Riddick…" Laiker mumbled, letting his head fall to the table. He was exhausted from last night, and getting over a hangover by sitting in a meeting that pertained to the first hunt was far from what he wanted. He noted with anger that Riddick and Rex were the only men on the entire ship that weren't completely hung over or still pissed drunk.

"Don't drool on those plans, Laiker." Riddick said casually, not taking his eyes off of the holographic screen in front of him. With the grace and gentleness that wouldn't be expected from him, Riddick moved the windows within the screen in a different order, determined to find a scent to go on.

"Why do I have to be here?" He asked, watching his leader almost twitch with excitement.

"To torture you." Rex commented, sitting across from the almost sleeping hunter. Riddick growled softly, silencing whatever bickering might have broken out between his two hunters.

"When I find a trail to go on, you can leave." Riddick said, not needing the see the look of triumph that Laiker had. The noise enough told him and he growled again, quieting the smaller man.

"What's the deal on this bitch anyway?" Laiker asked, deciding that if he was going to be in here he should get the best of it so he could spread it through the crew.

"Good to see you actually care," Riddick started, but continued like nothing had happened. "High bounty, from multiple private parties and even a few system governments. Wanted for assassinations and mass murder. Says she is certifiably insane, there is this one encounter that a single survivor wrote down, but he killed himself not long after." Riddick trailed off, looking for that particular window.

Headache almost gone, Laiker sat up; this was no usual hunt.

"He says… 'Never have I seen such…raw…pain. It was like she had been tortured or abused as a child and then snapped, reverting back to barely-human behavior. But there is a method; she kills only men and with a rage that creates a pattern, it leaves an essence behind.'" Riddick stopped there, concentrating on that last sentence.

"Sir?" Rex asked, peering over at his leader.

"Where did she last kill?" He asked, turning his silvered eyes at his hunters. "I need to know where and when." He ordered, muttering the rest of the dialogue to himself as Laiker and Rex scrambled to get to work. Only after ten minutes of quiet typing and sighs did someone finally speak.

"It falls off at Lether. It's a small singular space station that serves as a bridge between our territory and Bellger. Kind of like Nattuck, but better. Not only is it neutral territory, but if any hunter commits a crime there then the Hunter's Legion is called." Laiker supplied, getting a slight glare from the other two men in the room.

"We know what Lether represents and we are well aware of the Hunter's Legion." Rex snapped, making Riddick grin.

"So enlighten us, Rex, what is the Hunter's Legion?" Laiker shot back.

"All the leaders of every significant hunting ring," he glanced at Riddick, "will be called into the Hunter's Legion, a group of elite hunters obviously and if a hunter commits a serious crime, like the one you mentioned, it is called and the Legion judges them."

"Well whoop-di-doo, you're actually smarter then we thought." Laiker muttered, glowering at the monster of a man who had been a nervous wreck just seconds before.

"Back to the matter at hand, children." Riddick was standing and looming over the head of the table, his silver eyes looking impatient. "We go to Lether. I want the fastest flight path to that space station and I want it set in no less than ten minutes." With that he shut off the hologram computer screen and walked out the door, leaving the two hunters to themselves.

"Sure, like it's just _so _easy to do that in under ten minutes." Laiker grumbled as he stood, stalking out the door, followed by a chuckling Rex who had to duck as he exited the room. 

Jack breathed a sigh of relief when she took her ship out of Lether, closing her eyes as she cut off the radio signal from the tower. She had left the 'essence' of her made up killer behind, a scent that only Riddick would pick up on. She had had to be very careful so as not to leave any of her own scent behind, just what she made up.

"Marius?" She called, not getting up from her seat. She slumped a little further in her seat, suddenly feeling very tired. She was about to call him again when he appeared at her side, looking down at with worry.

"You gonna be ok, Jack?" He asked, stepping back as she roughly shoved herself out of her seat, catching her balance on the control board. Catching her breath, she straightened herself and turned and walked to the door.

"Watch the controls; if something happens, get me." She said, leaving the cockpit to Marius. Jack made her way down the hall and into her room, going straight to the bathroom. A shower, some sleep and later some food could fix this.

Marius sat down nervously and watched the various blinking lights, darkened switches, and figures running across screens that must've meant something to Jack but was just a mass of confusion to him. He figured if everything stayed like this it was alright, so he occupied his time by watching the screens, trying to find a pattern of numbers and letters he could follow, but soon discovered that there were also characters, maybe a different alphabet. Grumbling, he stared at the offensive screen and glanced to the other control panels every once in a while.

Jack stepped out of the shower, quickly drying off with a thin towel, shivering as she stepped out of the bathroom and into the cold air of the ship. She smiled slightly as she remember how she had ordered Marius to do some clothing shopping while she spread the trail and he had come back dragging quite a few bags of clothes. He had done a good job, Jack decided as she pulled on a pair of form-fitting black pants and a matching t-shirt, that left nothing to the imagination, but the elastic cloth kept her warm at the same time. Pulling on her boots, she stood and reached for her bugnucks, her hand just pausing over the weapon that sat so innocently on the bedside table.

_Jack's eyes snapped open in the darkness of the room, her eyes focusing on Riddick's resting form in front of her. He had her between the wall and himself, her back to the wall. She wished she could take small pleasure in how he firmly held her to his body, but her ears strained to hear a repeat of the sound that had woken her. But instead, a new sound greeted her ears and her entire body tensed. _

_It was a shrill, screaming sound of metal against metal, like a psychopathic murderer sharpening his weapon before brutally killing his victim. She knew this because she had heard Riddick sharpen his weapons before, but there was something definitely sinister about this. Jack was in shock that Riddick was still resting and, trying not to make any unneeded noise, she buried her face in Riddick's chest and whispered his name into his shirt. To her relief she was replied to with a deep rumbling growl and she pulled away to see his silver eyes watching her smaller form. _

_From that look she knew he had been hearing it the entire time, but he had to do something about it now that Jack had woken as well. The screeching of the metal had stopped and now he tensed as well, slowly sitting up but keeping Jack completely shielded. He had a shiv in his hand, from where, Jack had no idea but she didn't dare glance around his side to see what was there. In a second they heard a human scream, one of man and Riddick was up in no time, at the window's edge before Jack could even register his movement. After what seemed to last for hours, Riddick turned around and walked back to the bed, where Jack was sitting up, her black hair tumbling about her form. _

_Pulling out another shiv, he rested it on the night table, its worn silver blade shining in the darkness. She looked up at him, not understanding and he indicated that it was for her to have in case something happened to the one hidden beneath the bed. Biting her lip, she waited until Riddick had settled back into the bed; her eyes not drifting from the shiv on the table until Riddick gently tugged her down. With a shuddering breath, Jack snuggled against him, comforted as one of his hand rested on her back and the other woven into her hair, rubbing her scalp in a soothing manner. Yet the sight of that shiv kept her awake for a few more minutes, almost like a reminder of Riddick's mortality. _

Shaking her head, Jack pulled on her bugnucks, tightly pulling and fastening the strap of the glove around her wrists. Arming herself otherwise, she walked out of the bedroom feeling refreshed and hungry. Deciding to check on Marius first, she trotted into the cockpit, almost laughing aloud to see him scowling at the screens. It had taken her a lot of solitary time to figure out what they meant and clearly it was driving him crazy.

"Hungry?" She asked, startling him. Turning around in the seat, he gratefully smiled and stood, walking towards her. He followed her to their 'kitchen' and sat down in one of the chairs, watching her as she moved about.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?" She replied, not looking up. If she had she would've seen intense concern and worry on the young man's face.

"What if he catches up before you planned?" This made her stop and she did glance up at him, but that look of a few seconds ago was long gone.

"Then, I'm screwed. Nah, just kidding, I don't know, I didn't actually think about that. You think he's that good of a hunter?" She asked, seeing him think deeply over the matter.

"No idea, but I guess we'll see." He finally said back, watching as she picked up the two plates and walked to the table, setting one down in front of him. "But if we do end up staying with him, I hope he can cook." He broke a grin when he said this and Jack scowled at him, biting into her sandwich. 

Riddick stood at the front of the galley, barely smirking and holding back his joy at the loud cheers of his hunters. He had just informed them of the new hunt and they all seemed as excited as he was. Leaving some final instructions, he left the galley and the noise, heading towards the main control room, where he hoped to be left in peace. As he had wished for, it was empty and he sat down in his chair, watching the stars swim lazily past the ship. He was just quieting down when suddenly a new impossibly loud cheer echoed down the hallway. Shaking his head, Riddick realized he would never be able to break their habit of believing that when there was good news, there was alcohol to be ingested by the gallons. Whether it was vodka, rum, brandy, whiskey, beer or whatever liquor they could find, it was good enough to use for celebrations.

Relaxing into the chair, Riddick kept one shiv out, lightly tapping it on the chair out of habit. The constant source of calming noise let him drift in his thoughts.

This hunt would distract him from his main problem. This problem that was either going through a full head-on attack on his mind, or nagging in the very back and bottom on his head, was named 'Jack'. Did he hate it? No, but it distracted him constantly, whether he thought he saw her flashing eyes in a hunter's eyes or when he heard a particularly vicious curse and he thought it was her. Yet he wasn't going to chase after her now; he had a hunt and she obviously had some thinking to do herself. More to the point, he did as well, but he was and always had been more of an 'action' sort of person, so thinking wasn't high on priority of things he had to do. Speaking of important things, he did have to check the med supplies. Standing up, he sheathed the blade and made his way to the med bay, his nose being assaulted by the strong smell of the alcohol only a few walls and doors away.

**Thanks to these reviewers (you guys make my inbox happy):**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed – I had such a fun time writing that scene with Jack and the forks, spoons and knives. Woo, I really hoped I made some of the readers laugh. That's always nice to know. **

**ren3017 – Well, wherever you have been I am glad that you have returned. Flashbacks are always so relieving to write, because you can basically write whatever you want. Well, to some extent. I mean, I don't see a flashback involving…who knows…woah, weird story idea just hit me. Imagine Riddick actually being Jack's father? I mean, first off, no way, because J/R is simply eternal but that would be interesting to write. muses**

**njrd – Hm, indeed he does. I don't know how deep I'm going to write into what Marius thinks, but he is definitely jealous. Thanks for reviewing, I really like how 'Soul Mates' is progressing, by the way.**

**SueBe – A full copy? I am confused, are you going to print one out or something? Yay! Another one who loved the utensil flashback! Score!**

**gbmarie – Aw, what a nice review. Makes me happy.**

**IT – man, you are out of control, don't worry, next one is being written. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter XII**

**Happy Hunting**

Riddick strolled off his ship, his senses tingling as he stepped onto Lether. He could've taken off his goggles and just follow this trail of electric excitement that was buzzing in him like an angry hornet. His hunters came off in pairs or alone, straying not far behind him. They knew the plan but it was a tradition to let him go first, let him follow the scent. A few of them watched him naturally walk with stealth as he led the pack, knowing his eyes were almost rolling with anticipation. Laiker closed the ship up behind them and walked with Rex to catch up with Riddick.

Once they were at his side, the real hunt began and the trail of chasers followed the leader and his hunters. Any reasonable person would be able to recognize a hunt in the process and would close up shop or just walk in the other direction entirely. It wasn't a wise idea to be out while a hunt was in progress, especially if it was towards the end. The ending chases tended to be very dangerous for anything nearby and usually wound up in violence.

He followed the 'essence' as the report had put it, sometimes trailing his hand along a cement wall to get a feel for what the killer felt. If he could parallel the feelings of the environment he might be able to get one step ahead of the killer by tracing other places that would have that same feel. Cutting off the chase wasn't his idea of a long hunt, but he still got the last chase.

Lether wasn't a utopia of cleanliness by any standards and Riddick often had to avoid a few areas altogether because the stenches were so overwhelming that it deadened him entirely, like old rum. Picking up the pace, Riddick sharply turned a corner, Laiker and Rex not far behind, taking in their surroundings. That was there job until the target actually became tangible. Yet Riddick could almost say this intense emotion he felt was tangible and he stopped short. This was the spot. The last spot where the killer had killed.

Marius had stayed with Jack, profusely apologizing over an afternoon snack at a run-down café in one of the ports they were stopping at. Jack had simply smiled and nodded, then offered another hot chocolate, which Marius readily accepted. So far, so good; no straggling hunters of Bellger were following them, Riddick's team hadn't caught up with them yet, and the media wasn't in on the hunt either. Jack now sat with her hands wrapped around a half-empty cup of coffee, her clothes not providing much protection in this colder climate.

She had decided to step around Bellger territory as long as she could, stopping on one of the outer planets - a small one - with only a few main ports. She had already done her work and was confident they were safe. Jack had dropped two other 'trails' since Lether, so they had some time to kill. Jack looked out the clouded window, rubbing her half-gloved hand over the glass, giving her a small view into the streets. Her bugnucks did nothing to keep her hands warm and if she wasn't careful, the blades might stick from the frost. She would need to re-enter that world, the one she had been skipping out on as long as possible, but of course she was dragged under by her dwindling supply of money. She needed a quick job, maybe an assassination or two, just to get some side cash for necessities, like power charge for the fuel cells and emergency replacement parts to the ship.

She did have money from her killings earlier, before Marius had stepped into her life, but that account was under a name that Riddick would recognize. No doubt he would have every file pulled of that area, from drug receipts to organized crime deals. Unfortunately, bank accounts would be under that too and he would be looking for ships that needed fuel, like hers. Now that accessing that account was out of the question, she did need money. Jack was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Marius shifting around in his seat.

"Jack?" He asked, looking up at her.

"Yeah?" She drew away her eyes from the people walking past outside and focused on his smaller form. His blue eyes sparkled up at her and his hair was mussed, falling about his face. He looked chilled as well and Jack decided right then and there she needed some extra cash.

"How long are we going to stay?" It was like he could read her mind sometimes.

"I'm going to do a few quick jobs; we need some money. Don't even think about asking if you could find work, no work for you unless I'm watching." She answered before he could even open his mouth.

"I can take care of myself!" He insisted, looking hurt.

"I'm not trying to insult you, I'm just saying no. Not here." She stated and he knew it wasn't going to change. What Jack said happened, he didn't get a choice. But somehow, that was how he liked it.

He was lost in his thoughts of his mentor, not realizing she had already paid and stood from the ratty booth. Scrambling up, he finished his cup of hot chocolate and hurried to follow her long strides out the door. Marius marveled at how the leather duster that Jack wore whipped about her in the cold wind, but she barely even realized it, just stalked forward in her eternal march towards something.

"Watch it." She called back, making Marius stumble back as a small moped of sorts sped by right in front of him. He ran up to walk next to her and thanked her, only receiving a smirk in return.

Riddick stood in front of his chair in the main room, watching with cool approval as his hunters worked tirelessly, trying to achieve the goals he had set for them. His hands clasped behind his back, his eyes carefully flicking from each man to the next, pulling up a file on each, if not just to pass the time. His attention was distracted as Laiker appeared at his side, holding out a folder. Taking it, he thumbed it open and looked through the present results.

"Boss, sir, we think there's some sort of pattern with her and the boundaries of the Bellger territory. Think she's trying to make a statement?" Laiker asked, knowing that he had to approach Riddick with caution and respect when they were in the middle of a hunt.

"Maybe she offended them in some way and is taunting them by staying on their boundaries. Run a-"

"We did, sir, nothing there. No connections to Bellger or his hunters from the people she killed." Laiker calmly supplied.

"Do we have a locked move for the next trail?" He asked, handing Laiker the folder. The pictures he had seen were gruesome, even for his taste. Mutilated men, body parts strewn all over the scene, morbid humor painted on the concrete walls with their blood…the dream of a vengeful killer.

"We have yet to lock in on another killing report; we've gotten three, Lether-"

"And the other two. I want a list of all planets and space stations bordering Bellger territory." He ordered, sitting down in his chair. It had been at least two weeks since the last 'essence' and it was driving him crazy to have not found the pick-up on the trail. Laiker left his side and Riddick heard his boots descending the steps into the lower part of the main room, where the other hunters worked. Holding his head in one hand, the other dangling over the front of the armrest, Riddick closed his eyes and thought of the other plaguing issue that was taking hold in his mind.

His words of "offended them in some way and is taunting them by staying on their boundaries" had clicked in his mind as Jack. Jack had unknowingly killed Bellger and now could be mocking them by staying on the very edges of their territory, areas that couldn't be reached while a leader still wasn't in power. Although that wasn't his worry, it was the visions and images that he imagined behind his closed eyes that truly bothered him.

_Bestial moans of pleasure rippled his senses like a stone dropped in water, eventually fading away until the next one. Her toned body shone with a natural sheen of sweat, catching stray beams of moonlight as she shifted beneath him, driving him mad as she changed positions endlessly. Hands that hunted strayed over his body, the touches barely tangible as they caressed his skin. _

He snapped to attention, his eyes opening back to the scene of his ship, his hunters and his chase. Running a hand over his shaved scalp, Riddick inwardly groaned. Jack had better reappear soon because if she wasn't, he would have to go after her, if not just to save whatever shreds of sanity and self-restraint he had left.

Jack buried her hands in the pockets of her coat, the long leather tails whipping in the wind around her. She fisted her hands around the cred chips safely hidden in the pockets, feeling slightly more vindicated from the murders she had just committed. Marius needed better clothes; they needed food, fuel for the ship and emergency parts. As she turned the corner, a blast of snowy wind hit her in the face and she turned back, her back flat against the building, the vicious wind just a few inches away from her. Taking protection, she flipped up the collar and tightened it around her neck with the straps there. It came up past her nose and half of her ears, hiding her mostly from view. Pulling out her sunglasses, she slipped those on as well.

Jack stepped into the snow storm and did her best to get the ship as quickly as possible, not always avoiding the sharp lashes of snowy wind. She briefly wondered if Riddick had ever felt like this, braving all weather and moral standards simply to keep her well-clothed, fed and free from the world. Walking into the in-door port, she exhaled as she shook the snow off of her shoulders and hair. She quickly walked to her ship, punching in the security code for the hatch. Climbing aboard, she closed the door again and was very glad for the heating system that she had fixed only a few nights ago.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Marius shouted and Jack made her way there, propping her glasses on her head as she undid the straps of her duster and took it off, draping it over one of the chairs. Marius was busy making something to eat, but turned around and handed her a hot water pack to heat up her hands.

"Thanks." She said, pulling off her bugnucks and setting them on the table. Not caring about the warnings on the outside of the pack, she directly applied it to her hands, relieved at the feeling that was starting to return.

"So…are you done?" He asked, glancing at her over his shoulder.

"For now, yes. The weather is too bad to get anything this moment, but tomorrow we set out early, get what we need, get back and get out of here." She replied, rubbing the soft package over her cold hands.

Jack thanked Marius again when he placed a plate in front of her that was filled with an appetizing stew of sorts. Breaking a small smile she realized that she had done this many times for Riddick and he had always thanked her in his own way. Putting down the pack and taking up her fork, Jack ate away, grinning at Marius' half-hearted attempts to make her eat slower.

When they finished, they sat for a moment and she knew Marius was itching to ask her about her most recent job. She wasn't going to tell him, they both knew that, so she simply sighed as she stood, taking up the plates in her hands. Jack washed them in the sink and left them out on the counter to dry, wiping her hands on a dish towel that had once been a bathroom hand towel. Marius still stayed seated at the table, he had brought in a book to read, which he usually did when he knew Jack wasn't going to be in a talkative mood. Jack approached Marius from behind and gently resting a hand on one his shoulders, leaned over and kissed the top of his head. She felt him freeze at her touch but relax and thank her with a smile.

Leaving the kitchen, she picked up her coat and headed towards the cockpit. Jack had to plan for the next stops and figured that if she wasn't using the time to be outside and working, she should be working in the ship. Setting herself down at the control panels, screens and who knows what else that made up the main controls, Jack pulled up a few planetary maps and got to work.

**Thanks to these reviewers:**

(Oh man, I got so many reviews the past chapter, makes me super happy.)

**TotallyRiddickObsessed – Afraid there wasn't much action in this chapter either, sorry, I know you really like that. But, next chapter, there is gore abound and I believe you'll be pleased with it. So patience! Thanks for reviewing.**

**ren3017 – Heehee, yes, they are indeed. Man, I think I should put warnings up on the chapters. "Warning, reading this could result in the spitting of your nearby beverage. Please use caution." Yeah, I don't think I'm too overly fond of that idea. Ha, "(place usual word of praise here)"  Makes me very happy.**

**SueBe – Yes! The flashbacks! Also my favourite bits to write besides the action scenes. Glad you figured it out, if I write flashbacks now, I'll remember you. Man, your last review made me very pleased, thanks for being supportive. **

**njrd – I thought it would be interesting to stick that in, making the mentor mortal. In the next chapter we get to see Marius sort his thoughts out over Jack and Riddick, it will end up fine, no worries there. I don't want Riddick to appear as the cruel, I'm-leaving-you-behind bastard that he could definitely be, but I do want Jack to end up as a better mentor for giving him the choice. Oh no, not another addict.**

**IT – Your inbox. My god, my emails know it better then you know it yourself.**

**XinnLajgin – First off, let me say that reading your review made me laugh outright. Several times. And you are spilling your beverages, too! Man, I apologize to all those computers out there subject to his sort of treatment. Well, when Jack and Riddick meet up again it will be a…family…of sorts. I suppose. I'll look into that. **

**Haley** – **Woo! Thanks for reviewing, hope you do it again. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter XIII**

**Picking Up The Pace**

"Marius! Get your ass strapped in right now!" Jack shouted, barely hearing him yell back that he was still locking the door hatch. "I don't give a…wait, yes I do, _DO IT FASTER, THEN_!" She replied, strapping herself in and starting all system checks. He almost flung himself into his seat and, with no instruction, called in for permission to take off. He adjusted the earphones and mouth-piece attachment as he waited for a reply, silently cursing when he realized that all the bags they had brought back with them were not going to be secured and they would have a tornado of clothes and who knew what else spread around the bedroom after they took off. Thanking the voice that gave permission to let them take off, Marius watched Jack work with a fervor that couldn't be healthy. Breathing deeply, he thought back to what had happened just fifteen minutes ago.

_"Thanks for everything, Jack." He said as they walked out of the store, relishing the feel of the new fur-lined leather coat Jack had bought for him. They carried the bags as they slowly made their way to the ship. As they approached the port, Jack quickened the pace and Marius didn't want to know why, but kept up all the same. When they reached the ship, she tossed him in with the bags and ordered him to close the hatch. He watched from a half-closed door hatch, his eyes widening as he saw the events unfold._

_Five men were stalking towards their ship, many brutal and cruel weapons in hand. He could only guess that they were Bellger's old men, out for revenge. He bit his lip as he heard Jack's claws unsheathe themselves from their leather half-glove. The attackers probably didn't realize it, but that sound was worse then the sharpening of the grim reaper's scythe. Death for all, mercy for none. _

_"Hey, bitch!" One of them shouted, who was carrying something that looked like a mace with an electric current running through it. _

_"You'd better not be talking to me like that." She snarled back, her entire body relaxing as she moved forward with unimaginable stealth. Her claws at her side, she looked like a standing panther, the black clothes shining like well-groomed fur. _

_"You can bet your fucking boy-toy we are. Don't act surprised, you sick bitch, sleeping with boys." One of the others shouted. Marius saw with horror how Jack mentally marked him with a, what was going to be the goriest kill yet. The mere tip of her head told him this and he thought his knees were going to give out. She was a killer, but she wasn't supposed to be a maniac who lusted this. _

_"Say what you will, children, but I don't sleep with little boys. This also means I won't even consider sleeping with any of you. You all just walked out from behind your mother's skirts; I bet you've got their numbers on speed dial." Jack mocked them, only making them angrier._

_Finally the one with the mace ran forward, swinging it from behind his head. Jack caught the handle, wrenching it out of his hand and using her open hand, gutted him from below. As he stumbled away, she spun around and smashed his mace across his head, ripping skin, bone and brain out and letting it fall to the ground. He fell forward, his mouth opening and closing in indescribable pain as he barely clutched his open stomach. _

_The remaining four were in shock, but finally one of them looked up and aiming with what Marius thought was an old shotgun, shot at Jack. She somersaulted to the ground, not even phased by the bullet that shattered the concrete it hit. Raised in a crouch, she sprung forward without a second's hesitation, narrowly avoiding each shot and, once close enough, backhanded the weapon out of his hand and clawed out half of his face. Slipping beneath his waving arms, she grabbed his head and twisted his neck sharply, letting him crumble to the ground. The other three were ready and charged her at the same time, yelling in insulted anger. _

_In swift and graceful movements, Jack killed the last three, watching as they all slumped to the bloodied ground. She kneeled and wiped her claws of the mess, her breathing not even labored. Looking up, she saw Marius' pale face in the crack of the hatch and raised a bemused eyebrow. He scampered back and rested against one the walls, sliding down it in terror. Had he been worshipping a goddess of death and destruction? Was she Hades in disguise? _

_Thankfully, no one had gotten wind of this fight, seeing how they were around the port at odd hours. When Jack pulled herself up into the ship, she ordered Marius to pull himself together and shut the hatch. She had jogged off to the cockpit and he tried to calm his shaking hands to close the door, but it was like trying to control a body part with no nerves in it. _

The take-off had been a little rough and as soon as they were set on a course, Jack had risen from her seat and walked out of the cockpit, leaving Marius to his thoughts.

Riddick had heard that the last kill of this murderess had been on one of the other outer planets of Bellger territory, one that was in the middle of their winter. He watched stars and planets pass as his ship moved through space, heading right towards the planet. The authorities had to clean up the area, because it was in a public usage space – the port. But they were glad that someone, even if it was a hunter, was after this woman, so they had taken detailed accounts and pictures of everything they could. Riddick had been the first to receive these files and even he had tensed when he brought them up on the large screen that the rest of his hunters were watching. One or two of them even had to get up to throw up their last meal, a few other hunters accompanying them just to get out the room.

He had taken them down immediately and decided only that he, Laiker and Rex would have access to these. It was clear that whoever this killer was, she had a deep-set hatred for the entire male species. Something his crew was slightly unnerved by, but soon realized they were doing a good deed for men all over the universe by capturing this woman. Yet Riddick knew the backgrounds of these men and they all were less then acceptable as human beings and using the word 'shady' to describe them would be a compliment of the highest degree. She was choosing these men for a reason, although the last kills were Bellger men, so that must have been for self-defense. Something he understood entirely, yet he still didn't see why the killings themselves had to be so brutal.

The two pictures that stood out the most were the ones that depicted wounds that had been obviously dealt by claws of some sort. One slashed across the face, even shattering the cheek bone of the victim. The other was a gutting – from the bottom of the stomach up, the only visible remains of the claw marks were at the top, where they thinned out and eventually lifted from the body. Rubbing his face, Riddick wasn't sure why these stood out. Whoever this was, she was a real animal, an absolute beast that he was nearly getting high off of chasing.

Closing his eyes, Riddick remembered a few good memories of Jack when she was younger, running around and causing general havoc. When he was in a good mood, he enjoyed her insanity, her hilariously morbid comments and her presence. Yet she always surprised him when she would know exactly how to treat him the moment he stepped into their shit apartment. Just by walking around for a few minutes once she realized he had pulled a muscle in his hand, the result of a complicated shiv movement he had used on his target that night. After he had showered, she waited until he sat down on the bed before she sat next to him, watching him for any sudden anger. He had lain down, closing his eyes, welcoming the darkness behind his eyelids. Jack had taken his injured hand into his lap and with both of her small hands, massaged it back into use. Not a word had been spoken, just how he liked it after a job, but she had relaxed and fixed him. He repaid her back by holding her through the entire night, playing with her long black hair and not leaving until she had woken as well.

But the gory pictures brought him back into reality and Riddick winced at the clear-cut claw marks left on the man's face. Even the ends of the cheek-bone were smoothly cut, as if she had smoothed them out with sand-paper when she was done. Rubbing his own cheek-bone in reassurance, he remembered briefly how Jack had backhanded him with her bugnucks on. Damn that had hurt; the ice-pack had barely helped that night. Suddenly the scene replayed in his mind, the silver claws of her bugnucks, the angle at which she had backhanded him and above all, her raging hatred for men. What would possess her to be so violent? Was _Jack_ his target?

When Jack was showering, Marius picked up the clothes that were indeed strewn all over the bedroom. As he did, he decided on one thing entirely. He realized that he had a crush on his mentor, then again, what boy his age wouldn't? Ignoring her body, she was the epitome of excitement and danger, something no one could ignore. But while he might have this crush, after that one killing he had witnessed he grudgingly realized that the only person who could ever match that was Riddick. He must be the only man in the world she would put up with; they balanced each other, no matter how stubborn each of them was about it.

Marius smirked, realizing as well that he could probably be the only man who could stand and even think after how she backhanded him. So what was his job now? He wouldn't dare think of contacting Riddick, not with Jack's plan in progress. Well, once they got back together, he would make sure it stayed that way. He thought that he wasn't so protective of Jack and she could be with Riddick, she wouldn't ever be confused or cold towards him. Barely nodding his head, he left the room with all the clothes neatly folded on the bed, not even registering Jack's wet and barely covered body that stood in the bathroom door.

Once the door whisked shut, Jack moved forward and gathered the clothes she had bought, not much different then what she normally wore, but a little warmer. All the pants and shirts she bought were the exact same except they were made with these fibers that kept the body heat she gave off, keeping her warmer. She also found a pair of gloves that she was going to alter to make a warmer inside for her bugnucks. She had to make sure they were perfect, so they wouldn't screw with her style or anything, but she was pretty sure she had gotten them right. Finishing up the lacing on a boot, she swung her various belts and straps of weapons over her shoulder and left the bedroom. She found Marius in the cockpit, happily snuggled into his new coat and book, occasionally looking up to see that there wasn't an alarm going off.

"Hey Marius." She greeted, standing in between his chair and hers, beginning to strap on all of her weapons. He glanced up at her and smiled softly, shutting his book and setting it on the control panel. "Look, I'm not going to apologize for killing those men. That is the trail I leave for him to find me, you realize."

"Yeah, I know, just, never thought I would ever see…" he trailed off, looking at the stars passing by.

"That side of me?" She supplied, pulling a strap through a buckle and securing it. Marius nodded, unable to speak at that moment. When she settled into her chair, she threw a few switches and then turned to face him. "I know how you feel."

"How?" Anger leaked into his voice, how could she possibly know what it was like to see a mentor turn into a vicious killing beast that took lives as easily as taking breaths?

"Check that anger, it won't get you anywhere." She first said, not looking at him but plugging in a plan into the ship's computer. "You forget that I lived with Riddick."

She was right, as usual. Marius realized that what he was going through, she must've gone through double. Riddick was known to be a killer so she expected the beast, but instead he had shown her an almost paternal affection. To have seen him turn so quickly into…a hunter like that must have shocked Jack to her very core.

"Sorry, Jack." He mumbled picking up his book again.

"Don't worry about it; shit happens." She replied, clearing the holographic screen. "It wasn't a bad idea to get these warm clothes. We're going to be stopping at a few planets that made that last one look like a tropical paradise." Jack informed him, making him look up from his page.

"And I will now ask, 'why?'" He sounded sarcastic and annoyed and Jack raised an eyebrow at him, seeing that he had been spending a little too much time around her.

"To pick up the pace. Winter-based planets hold evidence longer and stronger - that is, if you know how to look for it. Speaking of being chased, I would bet you that the old dog is landing at our last stop right about now." Jack said, smirking deviously. Marius groaned; he hated it when she got sneaky like this, it always ended up badly.

"Alright, what we're going to see is not going to be pretty, girls. The worst of it was cleaned up, but it's still pretty fucking nasty out there. Go at your own risk, if you feel too…sickened to go on, know that you won't be snubbed for coming back to the ship." Laiker announced to the gathered hunters beneath him. Riddick was behind him, going over a few plans with Rex before he addressed his hunters. He walked forward and narrowed his eyes behind his goggles; this was a good test for the newer hunters.

"You heard the princess," he started, amused by the snickers he heard below. "This isn't your day-to-day average kill, you saw the pictures before. I want four groups of six, split up now. There will be a marked perimeter in the shape of a square. The center of this square is the scene of the killing; four boxes will be created within the larger one. Each group will be searching extra outside evidence from the crime in their own box. When you get there, split it for groups of three and work from there. Report back every fifteen minutes; take note of anything that sticks out." He gave out the orders like a general, knowing the plan better then the back of his hand and pleased with the reaction of his hunters. "Any questions?"

One of the newer hunters raised his hand. Riddick saw that he had been heavily scarred in his trial fights, but had somehow survived three separate wound infections. He nodded and accepted his question.

"Sir, if there is a suspect within our search area and they run, how far should we chase?" His gravelly voice echoed in the main control room.

"Good question. There will be a guard of four men at each corner of the largest square. If this happens, contact them, they will spread out and you will chase them and if all works correctly, they will be trapped." Riddick replied, growling out the part of working correctly. His hunters were some of the most respected and admired in the universe and it all depended on how fast and well they worked. "Anyone else? Good, let's go." He ordered, descending the steps, his heavy fur-lined leather duster flapping behind him as he walked towards the hatch.

It didn't take long to get to the scene of the crime and indeed a few of his older hunters were sickened by it and Riddick understandably let them return to the ship. Dispatching the groups of six, Riddick got to work with Laiker, Rex and a few other hunters on the scene itself. There were scuff marks of boots, as well as blood prints from later in the battle. As his crew gathered evidence, he followed the steps of the killer, as if practicing an old dance. Indeed it was an old dance to him, he created the movement himself.

Rex watched on from across the scene, watching Riddick's calm face turn into a dark scowl. The last time this had happened, Riddick had gone into a rage and for the safety of the hunters and ship, Rex had fought with Riddick, if just to release his anger in an almost non-destructive way. Rex shuddered as he thought of how Riddick had raged at him, but he hadn't spoken a word back to him and just defended himself. Even a man of his size and strength was beaten by Riddick and Rex spent at least three weeks in the med bay recovering.

Shaking himself from unpleasant memories, he walked over to Laiker and touched his arm, tilting his head in Riddick's direction. Laiker looked confused at first but his face cleared and he immediately sent the extra hunters back to the ship. Luckily, their work there was done, but they wasted no time in retreating.

Rex cautiously approached his leader, Laiker not far behind. Riddick seemed deep in thought, staring at the foot prints and obviously replaying in his mind something from long ago.

"Sir?" Rex ventured, but he got no reply. "Riddick?" He tried again, still no reply. He gestured for Laiker to step far back, which he resisted at first. He had been in emotional agony when Rex was nearly hospitalized for a month by his own leader. That sort of loyalty could kill him one day and Laiker wasn't too pleased with that idea. He watched from the other end of the crime scene, his hand hovering over the radio in case medical assistance was needed.

Rex stepped closer to Riddick and slowly stretched out his arm and touched his leader on his shoulder, making his head slowly turn and face him. If Laiker was terrified, he didn't want to know how Rex was feeling, standing within killing distance of Riddick. Putting down his hand, he breathed deeply, looking for signs of unpredictable rage.

"Riddick, sir, are you alright?" He asked, receiving a tensed growl in reply.

"When you checked the recent departures of this port, did anything come up with two passengers, a woman and young boy?" He asked back, making Rex swallow nervously, his words lost. Luckily, Laiker appeared at his side and replied for him.

"No, sir, nothing of those criteria. We'll check again when we return to the ship. Are you going to be staying here or are we returning now?" He ventured to ask.

"I've seen enough. You can tell the local authorities that they can clean this up." He sharply ordered, turning on his heel and stalking back towards their ship. Neither of the remaining men moved, waiting until their leader was out of ear-shot.

"What do you think happened?" Rex asked, relaxing his shoulders.

"He recognized the battle movement of someone." Laiker replied, walking over to where Riddick had been seconds before. At Rex's confused look, he explained further. "When you fight, or, I suppose, watch someone else fight, what does it look like to you?"

"A set of movements."

"Exactly, most fighters have their own personalized set of movements that can be passed down to someone they train." Laiker added, suspicions rising to mind.

"So you're saying that Riddick taught someone his set of movements and it is what is being used here?" Rex asked, receiving a nod from his fellow hunter.

"And we can bet that he doesn't just teach his own fighting movements to just anyone. You think when he asked about that woman and kid it's the two from way back? You know, the one that backhanded him?" Laiker looked up at Rex, who was studying the dried blood foot-prints.

"I wouldn't be surprised. But there's the off chance that it's someone who is just copying him." He replied, turning away and walking towards the general direction of their ship. Laiker jogged up to walk with him and shivered slightly, it was still cold within the port. He didn't say anything when he felt Rex's heavier coat draped over his shoulders, but he did end their conversation from before.

"Somehow I bet that chance is slim to none."

**Thanks to these reviewers:**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed- Glad you're liking it. Thanks for reviewing In Vaako's Chamber, too. You reminded me to update ToF, it kind of slipped my mind. Won't happen again.**

**XinnLajgin-:apologizes to your laptop: Hope you liked this update. It will be quite the strange family, won't it?**

**njrd – Glad you liked the chapter, makes me happy. Your review made me happier. I'm trying to clear up what's going on between Marius and Jack and Riddick and Jack. Think it's getting better now. **

**ren3017- And you have the next chapter now. There will be more, no worries. Just got your review for In Vaako's Chamber, glad you liked it. It hit me at the spur of the moment and I might have a follow up. I just needed a small break from ToF. **

**IT- I sent you the chapter::growls: And I have yet to have it back! That made no sense whatsoever, actually. I don't know if you have me on alert, but I wrote a short one-shot and just posted it. Check it out if you want. **

**Tinca-Hope you got my email, thanks for reviewing. Hope you liked this chapter and the next chapters.**

**Poll/Vote thing:**

**a twist in the plot to make it longer**

**no twist, make it shorter**

**whichever one you choose, the R/J action will occur roughly at the same time, I promise**

**So pick one dammit!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter XIV**

**Reflections of the Hunted and Hunter**

No one had dared to approach Riddick; his entire form giving off waves of such mixed emotions it was clearly dangerous. Only Rex stayed nearby, being the only man within the ship that could handle an explosion of Riddick's kind.

From a seated position on the floor, only feet away from the base of Riddick's chair, Rex watched on with tensed muscles, startling at any sudden movement. He knew that from across the room it looked like Riddick was simply fuming with anger, but Rex also sensed emotions that didn't seem to fit with what had happened. A spike of deep sadness surprised Rex, which was followed by anger and maybe even possessiveness. He wasn't sure how to interpret these, but continued to stay nearby, glancing at his fellow hunter every once in a while. Laiker had no idea what was happening on that lifted platform, but if Riddick beat up Rex again there would be some serious issues to deal with.

Riddick couldn't believe that it was Jack he was chasing, his Jack, the Jack he had saved from that hell planet and trained into perfection. Also the Jack he had bossed around to the point of putting her in servitude and the Jack he had eventually abandoned. That was a slash mark on his record, leaving her alone to Imam and worse, her dreams.

Ignoring that, he tried recalling memories of Jack showing particular hatred towards the male species as a whole and quite a few came up. Whether they had been waiting in line somewhere or simply walking around the port, Jack had always let off this deep-set feeling of disgust and contempt for any males who passed them. The claw marks on her last victims confirmed it was her bugnucks that did that damage and the skid marks on the concrete told him everything.

Yet she had never treated him with any negative emotion like that, only a sort of affectionate reverence. Memories of Jack taking care of him, healing him and simply being there when he needed human contact flooded his mind and suddenly weary sadness took hold of him. He had missed her terribly and he now wondered how he had convinced himself to leave her. Turning his thoughts back to the present, the anger and amusement came again. Should he keep chasing her? It was the first hunt after all.

"FUCK!" Jack smashed her fisted hands into the edge of the control panel in the small cockpit of the ship. He had caught onto her; that damned blinking light that was the coordinate of his ship lit her holographic screen of surrounding ships in the area. Sitting down lightly in her seat, she immediately began to set a course for the nearest port. At this point, Marius skidded in, almost stumbling in his speed to get there.

"Jack? Jack! What's wrong?" He asked, sitting down in the co-pilots seat.

"Fucking bastard fucking caught on." She mumbled, not seeing the window that popped up on her screen that stated in red block letters that she was entering directly into Bellger territory. Marius missed it as well, seeing how he was more focused on the blinking light that represented Riddick's ship then he was on anything else.

"Shit." He replied, pulling at his hair and watching Jack's face, which had morphed from anger into strategic thought. "So, is this the final chase?"

Jack stopped working and looked up at him. His clear blue eyes sparkled back at her and she realized that he could very well be killed in this chase. Closing her eyes briefly, Jack calmed herself enough to reply.

"It is. I am going to ask you to stay on the ship." She barely got the words out of her mouth before an outburst from Marius exploded into the room.

"NO! You always make me do this! You're always ordering me to stay put, not to be out with you unless you're absolutely _sure_ that there is no danger. You just offered to me that I could leave, saying I could take care of myself! Why the **fuck** can't I go with you? What's your excuse this time?" He lowered his voice in the end, but the hysterical tone hadn't left.

"I believe I said 'ask' that time and when you're with me, you are in an entirely different league of trouble. I just want you to stay low until this blows over. He won't hurt me, I know that, but that doesn't mean he or any of his hunters won't go after you." She reasoned, not raising her voice at all. Jack knew that if she was going to win this she would have to stay on the high road.

"I talked to him, fought with him even – he knows I'm with you." Marius shot back and was enraged when Jack laughed aloud, although he didn't miss the evident tone of morbidity as she laughed.

"You have never fought with Riddick." She said, still chuckling. "You avoided fighting with him, that's what. Yes, he is aware we're in the same ship and know each other, but he is a hunter, Marius. Hunters do one thing – they hunt."

"He won't hunt you!" Marius shouted, making Jack startle and send him a sharp glare that made him shrink back.

"What do you mean," she asked, her voice low and dangerous, "he won't hunt me?"

"He…he…couldn't hunt you. Not for real, anyway." Marius started, suddenly afraid of his mentor. "You're the only one to, you know…get close to him and…well, survive. Do you think he'd actually hunt you?"

Jack didn't reply, but the stormy look that crossed her face was enough information for Marius. He was right, Riddick would never seriously hunt Jack for a bounty, but would he chase her out until the end? Did he realize that the bounty was fake as well?

These questions floated in his mind as Jack prepped the ship for landing, requesting permission to land on the closest planet, Tykron, known universally for its icy conditions. Strapping himself in, Marius shook his head. This wasn't going to end well.

"Sir, where are we going next?" Laiker asked Riddick, who was now walking towards his private rooms. Rex had been sent to rest up, seeing how he had watched Riddick for hours on end.

"Tykron."

"But that's-"

"-a direct order." Riddick snarled as his door closed behind him. Laiker growled and flipped the door off, imagining it was Riddick himself. Turning on his heel, he stalked to the main room, where he began to order the crew into work.

Riddick paced the length of his rooms, anger nearly sparking from his moving form. So Jack was killing all these men, men who had no real place in society. But why would there be such a high bounty for her? He highly doubted it was the government; they could give a flying shit about mass murderers as long as they weren't threatened themselves. His only guess was that it was a private party, most likely the remaining hunters of Bellger, but this didn't make sense either. Why would they put up a bounty when they could simply hunt her themselves?

Snarling in confusion, Riddick threw open the door to one of his closets. Yet this was no normal closet, no clothes were seen in here. The insides of the doors as well as the wall of the back of the closet were lined with weapons of every imaginable kind. When he had become the leader of this hunting circle, he had the ability to spend small amounts of money on luxury items. To most people, luxury items meant upgrades in ships, lines of prostitutes or even an endless amount of alcohol. Yet to Riddick, luxury items meant weapons. Many of them were ancient, dating back to ancient earth times. Needless to say, he just kept those as pieces of art, but he on the other half, he kept up on every new weapon released. He had his favorites, but for chasing, he used his own weapons, his original shivs. He didn't keep those with him on hand all the time, but kept ones that he had acquired recently.

As he handled the older blades, the familiar feel and weight felt like having an absolutely necessary body part reattached. A small smirk lit his face for a moment, before he closed the closet doors, barely listening to the air-tight locking seals that kept the weapons in such good condition. Arming himself, Riddick lay back on the bed he barely used, his hands clasped behind his head. Pulling off his goggles, he set them aside and closed his eyes, allowing for a few hours of rest before the real chase began.

"Christ, Jack, it's freezing and we're not even off the ship yet!" Marius snapped, pulling his coat tightly over him and double checking the clasps. He may have been staying in the ship, but it didn't mean it wasn't a meat freezer. He pulled on a pair of gloves and hugged himself. Looking up he saw Jack reappear from their bedroom, a strange looking device in hand. She put it down on the table as she prepared herself for the arctic wasteland and Marius took this time to inspect it.

It was a rope. But not any ordinary rope. It looked like a cross between a rope, whip and cat'o'nine tails. There was no handle like a whip or cat'o'nine tails, but the shards of steel were strongly woven into the rope and it seemed like it could be used as a whip.

Marius shuddered, not envying the man who was going to be at the wrong end of this weapon. Glancing up, he quietly wondered to himself how she could be wrapped in so many layers and still look distinctly feminine. Her hair was braided and it swung behind her, looking nearly as vicious as the weapon she held. He also noticed she had put a layer of glove between her hands and bugnucks and approved. It would be terrible if she got half way through a battle and realized she couldn't feel her hands anymore.

"You," she turned, making the trailing flaps of her coat twirl before they rested on the ship's floor, "are staying here. Can I have your word on that?" She stood before Marius, her black sunglasses perched on top of her head.

"What if something happens to you? What should I do?" He asked, trying to distract her from her goal. Indeed this did distract her, seeing how she turned and went quickly into the bedroom and returned with an envelope in hand. As she watched him observe her, she realized how much he had grown since they had been working together. Sadly enough, whatever nutrition he had gotten with her had been better then what he had had before and a growth spurt had hit him almost instantly. Shaking her head, she handed him the envelope.

"If something does happen to me, find Riddick. Give him this. And," she added, pulling back the flap of her coat to the side of her waist and taking out a shiv, "this. This is one he left for me, he will recognize it. If he denies whatever I wrote there, he can't deny this, so don't forget about it."

"How will I know if…" he trailed off, not wanting to think about it.

"I'll radio in." She supplied, smoothly pulling the coat straps through their silver buckles and securing them. Checking her weapons, she was surprised when she suddenly had an armful of Marius. He held her tightly around the middle, burying his face in the soft worn leather of her coat.

"Don't want anything to happen to you." He mumbled and Jack barely heard him clearly.

"Hey," she said, pulling back and looking down at him, "it's going to be fine. The chance of something happening to me is so slim that it can't even happen. Besides, if something does happen, Riddick will take care of you. I don't want to brag or anything," at this Marius smiled, "but he isn't the best…mentor for emotions, I'd do better with that. But as a guardian? If he knows how much you mean to me, he won't let anything happen to you. And he might even train you."

"And if you do get back?" He asked, trying to look on the bright side.

"Well then it will be one happy dysfunctional family." She snorted at this as she turned to leave. "You'd better be here when I get back." He muttered a 'yes' and waited until the door hatch had sealed shut behind her.

"But I didn't promise I'd stay." And with that, he moved forward to the cockpit.

"Sir! New murder! On Tykron, just as you predicted." A hunter's voice crackled through the intercom, waking Riddick from his rest. He had grabbed his coat and gloves and was out the door before the connection ended. Walking quickly into the main room, he was pleased to see all of his hunters running about, keeping everything organized. Laiker appeared at his side, waiting for permission to fill him in. With a nod, the hunter burst into the details, handing Riddick the photos from the crime scene.

"One man this time, she's really teasing us, boss. Neat weapon she used, too. I think it's-"

"I know what it is." Riddick growled out, seeing in the back of his mind the exact same weapon in his weapons closet. "Continue."

"This just happened recently. Bellger's men told us-"

"Bellger? Tykron…oh shit. Fucking hell, she's dragged us straight into Bellger territory." Riddick sounded pissed. He had yet to tell Laiker or Rex that he knew exactly who they were chasing, so only he knew the dangers of Jack running around on Tykron killing men. "How much longer until we land?"

"Boss, it doesn't matter, Bellger is dead, his men know we've got first hunt, they're basically helping us find this crazy bitch. She-" Laiker yelped suddenly. In the blink of an eye Riddick had turned and wrapping his large hand around the hunter's neck, pushed him up against the back wall and held him there, pushing him farther up the more he struggled.

"Riddick!" Rex yelled in warning, running up the stairs. "Let Laiker go!" He barked, ready to take out his own leader if it came to that. With a snarl Riddick let the man fall to the floor, only supported as Rex nearly dove to catch him. As he sat on the floor with Laiker, he glared up at Riddick who looked furious.

"Don't you dare call her that." He said, his voice rumbling like approaching thunder. "How long until we get there?" He asked again, his face still dark with anger.

"We'll be landing in a few minutes, boss." Laiker wheezed out, making Rex glare at Riddick again.

"Good. Get ready, this is the final chase." He spoke, not looking back at the pair. Rex helped Laiker up and they walked back into the ship to get ready, Laiker stopping to glance at Riddick again. He had been right. This woman they were chasing was personally acquainted with Riddick. He knew her well.

Marius had almost laughed when Jack returned. She walked into the ship looking like a snow monster out of one of those terrible sci-fi movies. He helped her out of her coat and brushed snow off of it, still smiling as she grumbled to herself. Her hands were thankfully still able to feel, but she hadn't been too pleased about leaving her weapon there. Riddick knew it was her now, but she felt it was necessary to leave one final clue. Grunting to her charge that she needed a hot shower, Jack walked into the bedroom, the door hissing shut behind her. Marius had settled back into his book when a heart-stopping knocking was heard outside the ship. He lunged for the ship's intercom and spoke quietly into it, not wanting those outside to hear anything.

"Jack, someone's at the door!" He heard her fumble for the one in the bathroom.

"Fuck, shit, damn! Receive them; if they ask, tell them you're traveling with your older sister. Graduated from the academy, don't go off the story! I'm staying in the shower." She shut the connection and Marius paled.

He went to the door hatch and putting in the security code, pulled the lever to open it. Marius almost fainted as he saw the visitors. Well, it was the center one that scared him the most. An impossibly tall man ducked into the ship and two normal-sized men followed behind him and Marius shut the door instantly. Gulping, he turned and tried to speak.

"Who are you?" He barely got that through without stuttering. The tallest man unwound his scarf and looked down at Marius, who felt very small at this point. "Sorry! Come in, I'll make you something to eat or drink."

Marius shot through them and into the kitchen, trying to calm his nerves. Indeed the three men followed behind, muttering to each other as they looked the ship over. Thank the gods that Jack didn't leave any of her weapons lying around.

"Erm, will tea do?" Marius asked, turning around and was slightly relieved to see they had sat down around the small kitchen table. Even sitting the tallest man was taller then Marius was, but he nodded as he began to take off his other layers, motioning to the others to do the same. "Is there something I could help you with?"

"Have you heard anything about a murder?" One of them asked, carefully watching Marius' reaction. But he was almost an actor by now and saw he convinced them thoroughly.

"A murder?" His eyes opened wide with 'fear'. "No, nothing about it at all! Oh, I _told_ her we should keep a line open for the news, but no, we have to save the ship's energy for the heat!" He sounded like a scared young boy.

"Her?" The other shorter man asked.

"Oh, my sister. We're traveling together." He supplied, turning around to take the tea off. He had taken three cups down and poured the tea in, hoping they liked old English tea. It was the only kind Jack allowed in her ship.

"Alone?" The tallest asked, leaning back so Marius could set the cup down in front of him. He nodded in response and turned around to get the sugar. Setting it down, he sat in the fourth chair and looked the men over. Most definitely Riddick's hunters.

"Can I ask who you are?" He tried, making sure he laced his voice with fear. "She'll be pissed if I let you guys on and off the ship and don't even get your names." They chuckled at this.

"My name is Rex and you don't need to know the other two. We're looking for the person who murdered the man here just a while ago." Rex said, taking a liking to the young boy.

"Murder, huh?" Marius sounded like a semi-interested young boy. Just like Jack would want him to be. "Was it-"

"None of your business, Kyle?" Jack's icy voice came from the doorway. He looked up and did his very best not to be shocked at her appearance. She had dressed as…well, to put it bluntly, a slut. No doubt to get the men's attention away from anything that could betray who they actually were. She was leaning in the door, her hands bracing her as she leaned forward, giving everyone in the room a very decent view of her cleavage.

"Well that's one way to introduce yourself, Kat." He grumbled, pretending to be a slightly embarrassed younger brother. "That…"

"Sex goddess." Jack supplied, licking her lips as she slowly sauntered into the kitchen.

"Would be my sister. Kat, this is Rex and two other guys. Asking about a murder that just happened here. I told you-"

"Really?" Jack purred, slipping into Rex's lap, caressing his face as she snuggled deeper. "How exciting. So, are you investigators or what?" An added pout made Rex all the more uncomfortable. Riddick alluded to the fact that whoever they were looking for definitely wasn't a low-class woman like this. So, in an uncharacteristically-Rex way, he decided to enjoy this as long as possible.

"Are you calling us mercs?" He challenged, letting his arm slide around her waist and hook his thumb into the waist-band of her pants.

"You mean those vile pussies? Ew, no! They give prostitutes a bad name! So that must mean," Jack swung around and in a movement too fast for anyone to really take in, straddled Rex, "you're something a little more…dangerous."

"Perhaps." He teased back.

"Hmm," Jack moaned slightly, knowing it was driving this man crazy. "I like the ones that walk on the wild side. So…how am I going to classify you, hmm? An assassin maybe?" Jack was slowly inching up his lap and Rex realized he had to end this soon.

"Someone," he stood suddenly, making her slide back and hit the table top with a thump, "you don't want to mess with. Clearly you know nothing about what we're looking for." His sex drive was beating him over the head as he attempted to walk away, doing his best to ignore the saddened pout that Kat now wore. She got up and let them out, catching Rex's wrist before he stepped out.

"Well, if it gets too dangerous out there, my bed can keep you safe." She winked and he tensed, stiffened and marched out of her ship. Jack closed the hatch behind him and let out a laugh. "Damn, if that won't confuse Riddick I don't know what will."

"Was that really necessary, Jack?" Marius groaned as he walked out of the kitchen. "They barely touched their tea!"

"No one asked you to be a housewife, Marius." Jack commented, walking towards the bedroom. "I gotta change, there's no way I'm running around in slut clothes like these." And with that, Marius was left with three cold and full cups of tea.

"And?" Riddick demanded, staring Rex down who was acting like a nervous schoolboy.

"Shestraddledme." He said in one short breath.

"You think it's her, boss?" Laiker asked from behind, rubbing his neck. Riddick had apologized gruffly, but he noticed that the crew made sure not to badmouth their target when he was around.

"You said she was traveling with her younger brother?" He asked, dragging a hand over his face. The crime scene hadn't left a trail as to where she had gone, so he was depending on these 'interviews' he sent his men to conduct.

"Yes, sir." Rex replied, feeling nervous.

"Remember what she looked like?" He asked, sending a sliver of silver glare towards the other two men who had accompanied Rex.

"How could we not? Not too tall, not too short, well-muscled, this wasn't any anorexic chick. She had this long black hair and these eyes. Man, if those weren't sexy I don't know what is anymore." One of them replied, making Riddick roll his eyes. This was definitely Jack, only being a seductress to veer his men off trail. And veer she had done.

"SIR!" An out of breath hunter burst into the room, startling all the occupants except Riddick. "Another murder and it's fresh! We've got men tracking her right now!"

"LET'S GET GOING!" Riddick roared, heading straight out the door, buckling his heavy coat on and pulling out his shivs. The main hatch had already been opened for him and he ran out into the deepening snow. Laiker and Rex were on his heels, stun guns in hand. He didn't need to someone to lead him to Jack; he could smell her in the air. Following her scent, he broke out into a lope like the predator he was. Puffs of breath followed the trio as they leaped over obstacles and pushed through the snow, like breaths of a pack of wolves, running to catch their prey.

**Thanks to these reviewers:**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed –always the first to review. Haha, it only slightly slipped my mind. I knew I should do it, but I missed my mark by a day or so. Won't happen again seeing how I just need to write one more chapter then the story is done. And no, it isn't the next chapter, it's the chapter after that. But don't worry, sequel to KF is online and ready to go. Well, almost. Is there a chance of Liege reappearing? Did you really like her? Hmm…perhaps in KF sequel, I was thinking of punting in Toombs for some fun. Who knows, I might just keep Liege out of KF sequel and after I'm done with that, write a sequel to Of Schoolgirls and Convicts. **

**njrd-Alright, twist isn't happening until next chapter though. So I hope you didn't expect it to happen now. Hope I've written up to your expectations. **

**XinnLajgin-Well, you'll see he isn't so pissed about it later or maybe in this past chapter, hmm, I should really be able to keep it all apart but it just meshes into one large ongoing story in my head. Jack will join in on the game, rest assured. Marius? Matchmaker? Nah, but he does, in a way, bring Jack and Riddick together in the next chapter. Oh, did I just drop a hint for some R/J action? I think I did!**

**IT-chapter has been written! As you already know, of course. :slightly hurt: I wasn't on alert and you're beta'ing my fics! Just kidding, IT, don't take offense now. **

**Tinca-Woo! Another fan of the fighting scenes, that's awesome. I mean, even I'm a fan of the fighting scenes I write. Go figure, but yeah, don't want to act to egotistical. I'm afraid the twist only makes it one chapter longer, but I realize all the stuff I write always ends up kind of long. 'cept for In Vaako's Chamber and KF, those are shorter. **

**SueBe-erm, sure it counts as three votes. Like in Fight Club! But that was with promises. Yeah, I wanted to make sure that I made Riddick out as a pretty nasty beast when he wants to be, but I wasn't in the mood to write a violent flashback, sorry. :headdesk: Read the end of the response I gave to XinnLajgin and your pos-i-bil-i-ties question will be answered, Oh Sir of Cambell Soup. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter XV**

**To Catch and Win**

Jack's coat whipped around a snow-banked corner as she silently sped through the streets of Tykron. She could sense Riddick wasn't far behind but he hadn't quite locked in on her current position. Glancing behind her, she released her bugnucks and jumped up on the wall next to her, sliding them into the building easily. Jack took the bottom of her coat and hid her tracks in the snow from the corner to the point where she was going to climb the wall. Doing this, she scaled the vertical surface without trouble, looking down to make sure no one was nearby. Minutes passed as she clung to the cold wall, cursing it for taking away all of her body heat, leaving her shivering. But she didn't have to wait long; she heard him running towards her, his signature so unique that it could've only been him.

Clenching her teeth, she saw through her darkened lenses that Riddick had cut off from the rest of them and was heading down the alley she had not so long ago. Jack could hear him sniffing as he approached right beneath her and she contemplated jumping him. Yet as she watched him prowl below, she didn't see the muzzle of the rifle from the rooftop across from her quite fast enough. The old concrete started to crumble beneath her claws and immediately Riddick noticed and looked up, finding his target.

"Hiding, Jack?" His deep voice growled out, even with the wind.

"From you? Never. Just-"

"JACK!" He shouted, seeing the rifle pointed at her. "JUMP!"

"What? Are you fucking-" her words were cut off as a bullet tore through her left arm, leave a ragged trail of coat, shirt, skin and blood behind, the bullet ending its trail in the building. The pain was unbearable and she could only grit her teeth, pulling herself up and harder against the cold building. But soon she couldn't handle the pain and just as she let go with her left claw and swung to the side, another bullet shattered the concrete inches away from her face.

"Jump!" She heard his voice from below, but it sounded distant. Barely holding on with her right claw, Jack braced her feet against the wall and tried climbing up, but her feet slid from beneath her, making her fall hard into the wall. "Let go!" His voice again, ordering her this time.

Looking up, she saw the rifle aimed right at her heart and closing her eyes, she released the claw and didn't even try to land her fall, but just limply sped through the air. But just as she expected to hit the ground, Riddick caught her and ran into the nearest building, holding her close to him. They both heard the clatter of the rifleman as he began to move, but neither paid much attention to it. His goggles and her sunglasses prevented any visual communication, but just being near each other was enough.

"Some chase." She mumbled, but she made no move to leave his arms.

"Can you stand?" He asked, shifting slightly. Before she could reply, two men came running into the building, guns directly pointed at her head. If she wasn't in pain, she might've blushed, realizing that one of the men was Rex. "If you don't put down those weapons right now I will break your fingers." Riddick growled out, subconsciously tightening his hold on Jack. The shorter one had a momentary hesitation, but Rex put his down, following Riddick's orders by automatic default.

"Riddick, we should get out of here." She mumbled, pulling herself up on him, trying to stand. He slowly stood with her, guiding her with one of his hands spanning her lower back, giving her support. "Who the fuck was that anyway?"

"Christ, Jack. Where are you?" He asked, checking the entrance to make sure it was clear. Ignoring the pain shooting through her arm, Jack released her claws and walked forward, barely giving a glance to anything. She was confident and if she died, she died.

"Tykron." She answered smartly, beginning to jog across the snowy ground. He followed and Rex and the other man were not far behind, checking to make sure no other riflemen were sneaking around on the tops of the roofs.

"Bellger territory." Rex grunted, keeping in easy step with Riddick and Jack. "You've killed enough of them to really piss them off and then you waltz into their territory and bring an entire hunting ring in tow."

"Like I didn't figure that out." Jack hissed, wincing as she moved her arm. "I need to get back to my ship." She said, taking a different turn and Riddick stopped her. "He's alone, I need to check, and I'm fine."

"Your arm is bleeding and open to the wind." The shorter hunter observed.

"Thank you. Like I didn't notice that." Jack snapped, walking again, but Riddick's massive form stopped her from moving. "Get out of my way." She ordered, not touching him but barely containing her rage. Jack just wanted to rip off his goggles and let all that reflected light from the white snow blind him. Marius was alone and she needed to be there, what if Bellger's men tried to find her ship?

"Jack, get back to my ship. I can stitch you up and then you can check on your…" Riddick trailed off and Jack could only feel the jealousy rolling off of him.

"Charge. And no," she responded, bringing up an unsheathed claw to his chest. "I can do that later."

"I asked you nicely, but-" He started, but Jack cut him off.

"You didn't ask at all. Now get the fuck outta my way, you bastard."

"Asking never worked for you anyway, kid." Riddick shot back and Jack almost tore his throat out with her claws. Although she was smaller, her body shot at him like a missile and they fell to the ground. Snow flew up around them as they landed hard onto the pavement and something in Jack broke and sheathing her claw, slipped that hand behind Riddick's head, knowing it could get seriously injured if he cracked it on the pavement. Rex and the other man didn't see it, she took her hand away as soon as she deemed it safe, but she knew and Riddick knew. Before either of them spoke, Jack took the opportunity to jump up and race away, feeling that Riddick was still in shock of being bodily forced to the ground and then protected.

Slipping on a patch of packed snow, Jack scrambled to regain balance and ended up slamming herself against a nearby building. Growling out against the pain, she forced herself off and kept running, unknowingly leaving a trail of blood on the grey concrete. Jack knew she had lost quite a bit of blood from her arm and cursed herself for not doing something about it. It was too late now; her body was torn between supporting her taxing pace and doing something, if anything about her wound. She had run at least eight blocks by now and her trail couldn't be followed by footprints, the wind was too strong and kept blowing the imprinted snow away.

Panting, Jack slid down to the ground and leaned against a wall, closing her eyes behind her sunglasses. From afar it seemed that her tired body had stopped breathing completely in a few minutes, but suddenly she was on her feet again, propping herself up against the wall. Pushing off, she left another smear of blood and kept running, her only thoughts of getting back to Marius.

But she stopped short when she reached the port. Jack could see from far away the men wrenching open the door to her ship. Creeping forward, she slid open her claws, her entire being aflame with anger. How dare they even go near Marius? It was her they wanted, not him. Soon she was a ship away, hiding behind one of its wheels. Turning her head as she leaned against the structure, she saw them taking Marius, him kicking, biting and fighting the whole way. Her heart clenched as they knocked him unconscious and dropped his body to the ground. She had had enough. Turning, she opened her mouth to yell but a hand covered it and she was pulled back into the shadows of the hull.

Jack immediately recognized the feel, smell and strength of the man behind her. Nonetheless, she struggled to get free, tears unknowingly sliding down her face as she watched them roughly bind Marius, tossing him into what looked like a body bag. But the one arm around her waist held her securely, no matter what she did. Finally when she saw them disappear into the white swirling mass of the snow storm, she stopped and fell limp. The hand was removed from her mouth and she looked up and saw Riddick looking down at her.

"You save me, I save you." He rumbled, pulling her against him, sitting on the cold ground beneath the ship.

"They've got him." Jack said, her entire body suddenly frozen with that realization. If only she had let him tag along, even if it was in a nearby building. "Riddick, they've-"

"Got him, I know." He ended the sentence, picking Jack up as he stood. "We're getting out of here."

"No! I've got to get him back!" She yelled, trying to pull back from him. "Riddick! We aren't leaving!" He remained oblivious to her shouts as he carried her away from her ship, ducking a few times to make sure she wouldn't smack the side of his head with her bugnucks. Sheathed or not, they still hurt.

"Jack." His deep voice made her look up from the bed she was resting on, now showered, stitched and dry. He stood in front of her at the end of the bed, the door locking closed behind him, leaving them in a dim light. "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" She asked, turning on her side. She couldn't believe she was resting on his bed as Marius was stowed away in some ice-cold corner of a basement in the city, praying that she would walk in and rescue him.

"You know what." He sat down heavily on the bed, making it tilt in his direction. She rolled over and lay behind him, her body naturally curling around his seated form. Part of her raged not to, why was she treating him so nicely? Yet the other half of her was rejoicing at his proximity.

"Head concussions are a nasty injury, that's all." She mumbled, folding her arm and tucking it beneath her head. "Riddick…I've got to get him back."

"Face it, if you do, it's going to be a frozen corpse. They hate you; they're not going to keep him alive and kicking." He replied, not looking in her direction, but he felt her sit up and move away from him and the beast inside of him suddenly longed for that warmth.

"Clearly you don't understand. He is my charge, I take care of him, he doesn't physically need to depend on me but he needs someone who cares about him! He needs someone he knows he can turn to and will treat him with respect!" Jack yelled, anger bubbling up inside of her.

"Jack! Listen to yourself! He doesn't need you, he needs a fucking mother!" Riddick yelled back, turning around and standing.

"He didn't even know if he had a name when I first met him! He just needs someone to be there! Shit, Riddick, this situation should sound some-fucking-what familiar to you!" She snapped, getting off the bed. Jack moved towards her folded pile of clothes and began to dress for the outside. She couldn't tune Riddick out as she bent over to fasten the zips and buckles on her boots.

"Situation? Yeah, **kid,**" he hissed, making Jack look up angrily. "I'm not that dense. But anyone would've done for you; you could've stayed with Imam and been fine! Hell, you would be better off if you had stayed with him!" Riddick didn't approach her, especially now that she had her bugnucks tightly strapped to her hands.

"And that is where you are wrong, you bastard! I needed _you_! And fuck me sideways if I still do!" She snarled, suddenly in front of him. She roughly pushed at him and he was barely fazed, but it was the pained anger and loneliness he felt from Jack that really hurt him.

Jack walked past him and was about to open the door when a thought struck her. She slowly turned around and faced him, her long coat hissing quietly against the steel floor.

"Besides, if it was me out there, kidnapped, alone, being abused, beaten and maybe even raped, you would come after me." Jack spoke silently. "There's no difference in how I feel for him as you once felt for me, Riddick." But she didn't move yet, her eyes were trained on the form in front of her that moved slowly towards her.

"You imply that I feel differently now." His smooth voice moved up from the dark corners of the room like dark smoke. He walked right up to her and stood directly in front of her, looking down at her, waiting for a reaction. "Do I, Jack?"

"How am I to know? It's not like you're going to openly tell the universe." She whispered, her voice unsteady. But from some deep corner of her mind she pulled strength and looked up at him while taking her sunglasses off her head, folding them and slipping them into her coat pocket. Riddick followed suit, tucking in the strap into a back pocket, his shined eyes not moving from hers.

"You're right. I think I've always communicated more strongly through actions then words." Riddick replied slowly, his hands rising slowly and starting to unbuckle the lower straps of Jack's coat. "So bear with me in the silence." He added, stepping closer to Jack, their breath mingling as he craned his head forward, completely serious and studious in his work of unbuckling her coat. Just as he finished the last strap, Jack gripped both of his hands with hers and slowly, yet confidently slid her hands up his arms, finally resting on his shoulders. As she had been doing this, Riddick had snaked his hands between her and her coat, his beast awakening at the warmth felt there. Fully wrapping his arms around her thin waist, he pulled her flush against him, giving her hands a moment to join behind his neck.

It wasn't clear who moved first or if they had moved perfectly in time with each other, but when their lips met, none of that or anything else mattered. Their tongues dueled with passion, flicking over the sharp teeth of the other, their inner beasts connecting and play fighting for victory. When they finally pulled apart, Jack could only rest her head on Riddick's chest, closing her eyes to regain any sort of consciousness.

"So you're going to get him by yourself?" He asked, making her glance up, her mind barley able to grasp her surroundings. Jack could tell he felt the same way too, his silver eyes heated.

"Seems that way." Jack replied, suddenly very grateful for his steely grip on her body.

"You, by yourself, attacking an entire base of vengeful ex-Bellger hunters?" He clarified, making her break the tiniest of smiles.

"Got another suggestion?" One of her hands moved and began to softly stroke the back of his neck, Jack knowing that it would send lightning straight down his spine. She was still wearing her bugnucks, one wrong move and there would be claws in the back of his skull. But he knew this and Jack could only feel happiness at that.

"Let me, with my hunters, go with you. All I ask in return is that you wait and stay here." _With me_, he added silently.

"One psycho killer just isn't as fun as two." Jack teased tiredly, realizing that even without that sudden release of pent up feelings towards each other, she was still exhausted. Riddick felt this too, both in himself and Jack and only slightly releasing his grip on her, guided her towards the bed that he had slept alone in since he became the leader of the hunting ring. As she stood next to it, she fumbled while taking off her coat, her hands just as tired as her body. Riddick helped her and kicked off his boots as Jack un-strapped her bugnucks, setting them down on the bedside table.

Riddick stretched out on the bed, watching the muscles in Jack's body move as she bent over and took off her boots. His breath caught in his throat as she pulled her body back up, her profile just visible from his angle. He knew Jack would never do it, but if she had any desire to be a model, she would blow the competition away. But besides that, her beauty was too unique and superior to be cybergraphed and posted on holographic billboards. Every shadowed curve of her body made his beast whine in lust, leaving Riddick barely able to subdue it.

When Jack turned around, he redirected his line of vision to her face, their eyes meeting and staying connected as she twisted her body and crawled to him. She finally dropped next him, making sure not to drop down on the arm that was injured. At her sudden closeness Riddick was surprised to find that his beast suddenly backed down in physical attraction and stayed alert, as if telling him to guard her and care for her.

"Actions speak louder then words." She mumbled, tucking her head beneath his chin as she pulled her body as close as possible to his. Riddick wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head, closing his eyes in pleasure as she purred at the small affectionate gesture. With a growled out command to shut the lights off, the darkness enveloped them, letting them bask in each other's warmth and stay protected in its shadows.

**Thanks to these reviewers:**

**To all of you: you blew my mind with all these awesome and positive reviews. I can't thank you all enough.**

**To each of you:**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed-Yes, there will be a sequel in the making for KF, maybe I'll think about a sequel to Of Schoolgirls and Convicts. Glad you liked it so much, though. Have any ideas for sequel to KF?**

**ren3017-Damn, you kids are crazy! Yeah, sequel for KF isn't that far **

**away. Have any ideas? Thanks for reviewing.**

**XinnLajgin-Not another cup of coffee! I'm so sorry! Coffee is a goddess I worship 24/7, I really do apologize! No problem for the hint dropping, it's sort of fun, actually. Heh, oh Rex and Laiker. If I was making the story longer, I'd probably end up making them a couple. Ha.**

**njrd-Yes! He finally did, their conversation was…well, you just read it, you tell me. Please. Sorry about the late update, I loved your last update, hope you got my review.**

**SueBe-Haha, editing for content. Yeah, I don't really want anything terrible to happen to Jack, I'm way too much of a J/R fan. Did you know the original plotline for the story was that Jack would die protecting Marius and then Marius and Riddick would've bonded together. Then I realized I didn't really have a place to take the story to after that, though.**

**IT-Wondering where you went, glad you're alright though. Ha, computers, evil friends. Quite fickle, too.**

**NightmareWeaver-I missed you! Woo for short yet lovely review, made me really happy. Can you adopt him? Sure, go ahead.**

**Tinca-Yay! Giving readers excitement! How…exciting. Haha, thanks for reviewing, I'll reply to the email soon, lots of work this weekend, though.**

**Nikita1506- Jack is always more fun when she's a little trickster, don't you think? Thanks for reviewing.**

**Pesty-Well, glad you think it's such a good story. Sorry about the late update.**

**dog-demon-emiko-WOO! Glad you loved it, in caps too. **

**TrunksgirlBlaze27-Quite the name. Glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks to these reviewers:**

**Who I would first and foremost want to apologize to. It is absolutely terrible that I didn't finish and update this sooner and I apologize for that. I'm sorry. And this isn't the end of Tricks of Fate, have no fear.**

**XinnLajgin – **Hope you're still not drinking coffee and reading. It has been a long time.

**njrd – **yay! You picked out a quote, that makes me feel special. Yes, we almost are. Almost. You'll understand when you read through this chapter.

**gbmarie – **don't be worried!

**IT – **Do you think I could hurt Marius and feel alright about it?

**Arrna – **Sometimes short reviews like that are the best.

**TrunksgirlBlaze27 – **J/R? Me? Diehard fan.

**TotallyRiddickObsessed – **A sequel? My god, I'm just going to start the sequel to KF, maybe after that. No, Laiker and Rex are with Riddick, it was definitely a Bellger guy. You'll find out who, too.

**lamyka – **I'm glad my Kyra/Jack appeals to you, it seems for most readers. She just is a strong person, I don't think I could write her otherwise.

**vinbaby19 – **Your review. My god it makes me grin every time I read it.

**NightmareWeaver – **I can't get the link! Noooo! I want it! Email it to me or something. I liked your little dialogue, very cute. Don't worry, this chapter starts out with Marius.

**Tinca – **Sorry, action…erm, yeah, you get plenty of action in this chapter. Same here. This post took forever and a day.

**angeloneous** -"Excellent story – great characters", let me tell you, that was an excellent review to read.

**KristinMarie – **Sorry! Hopefully the length makes up for it.

**Kookie315 – **Thanks for the review, hope you like 16.

**Chapter XVI**

**Starting Up The Real Hunt**

Marius tried to make as little noise as possible when he woke up, but that was very difficult, seeing how he was in a black bag and being hung from the ceiling. His body had slumped into a very uncomfortable position and he so badly wanted to crack the kinks out of his body, but he heard people talking. Marius tried his best to focus, but he already had trouble breathing and he wondered if a few of his ribs were cracked or just badly bruised. The inky blackness of the bag didn't help, either; it was like trying to find a raven in the middle of the night that was flying overhead. So Marius closed his eyes and realized how freezing he actually was, he was going to catch a fever, he was sure. But the voices kept him alert and he listened, pressing the side of his head to the bag.

"Tha' right bitch'll be lookin' fer 'er fuckin' boy toy, right?" A thickly accented voice droned out, sounding like an angry bear. Marius repressed a shiver, disgusted of how they viewed his relationship with Jack. Oh, if only he could show them.

"Oh, she will," Marius heard the sharp intake of breath that sounded lustful, "if I could get her in bed with my beloved blades…oh the fun we could have. I am eager to see that lean body again; aren't you?"

The other man grunted. Marius now realized there were only two men in the room, which seemed large because of the echo of their voices.

"Although, I suppose, if she doesn't arrive soon enough, we could always put the boy in her place." The second voice said, still sounding very turned on and Marius was suddenly very worried. God, he wished Jack would show up soon! This train of thought was broken off by a door opening and someone walking in, their silky smooth voice hissing through the air.

"And where would that place be?" Marius was unnerved by this voice. It had this silken quality that couldn't be resisted; it was too tempting to anyone.

"He is quite the pretty boy, don't you think? That long hair would fan out beautifully on a bed and undoubtedly his young body is quite sculpted." The lustful one said, his voice almost shuddering at the thought. Marius thought he was going to be sick, where was Jack!

"Tha's roight disgustin', ye fuckin' nasty bastard. 'e ain't no princess, if yer goin' to fuck a lad like tha', ye do it in a group 'n bruise 'im up." The first one said, his deep voice rising in humor as he finished his sentence.

"You know, there isn't a boss to tell us we can't have fun with our prisoner. We're rogues now." The one who had mentioned the knives before said.

"He speaks the truth. Besides, it must be terribly chilly in that bag, hanging from the ceiling." The third one said and Marius could hear him approaching the bag. He tried not to cry as he felt the bag being lowered, the chain links clinking loudly against the steel bar that they had been secured around. He was gently let to the ground and waited, playing as if he were still asleep. Marius wished he had a weapon when he heard the man step over him, feeling a foot on each side of his body and then he squatted, so he was basically sitting on Marius, straddling him. He could tell as the man leaned forward, reaching for the zipper and pulling it down. As he heard the now unbearably loud 'vrip' of the zipper, Marius wanted to sob.

"Alright, we're closing in on their safe houses; the kid has to be in one of them. You, take a group of ten and take that house. You, take a group of six and take that one, Laiker, Rex and you other four, we're taking the large one. Let's go. Keep your radios on." Riddick ordered, his voice barely heard over the sharp wind. Jack stood next to him, her eyes trained on the large ware-house looking building that they were going to storm. They now spoke in hand gestures and Riddick moved his hand forward towards the house. Laiker and Rex were right behind Jack and Riddick as they jogged lightly through the snow, the four other hunters bringing up the back. As they neared the depressing looking building, they fell back into memory.

_Riddick looked backed, semi-oblivious to Jack's plead of telling him to wait. Barely shrugging, he kept going; these power cells sure as hell weren't going to drag themselves to the emergency skiff. He kept going, listening to the wails and cries of the monsters that inhabited this hell planet. He never realized one was focusing its grey and silver hungry gaze on Jack, who wasn't close enough to anyone to be safe. Nor did he see Jack hold up her flashlight to the sky, seeing how she had heard that last starved wail was directed at her. The creature dove at her and she barely hid beneath a white rib of an unknown other creature that had died who knows how long ago. _

_He turned around suddenly, watching as the monster smashed its head repeatedly into the old bone, just waiting for it to crumble so it could eat Jack. But Jack didn't screech like Imam's boys had, she screamed, a scream that was determined fear. Riddick turned away, so what if she was braver then some kids, she wasn't his responsibility. He heard Carolyn trying to distract the hungry beast, but he knew it wasn't doing anything. Jack didn't deserve to be on this hell planet, that was for sure. He didn't know where that thought had come from, but it made him turn and take off his goggles. _

_Riddick ran at the monster, grabbing its arms and holding it there, his strength challenged by its struggling. He saw behind the monster how Jack ran for Carolyn, maybe slightly comforted at her presence, but she looked more afraid for him then for herself. It kept on reaching down, trying to take snaps at him, but he dodged its mouth. Finally it reared back, ready to smash down in one last attempt and Riddick took the opportunity to reach for his shiv and slice the unprotected, soft underbelly of the monster. He sliced at it again and again and finally it fell to the ground, dead. Riddick wasn't convinced and he had to admit, it had felt good to snap that beast's neck. As he stood, he didn't dare look at Jack, he knew what lay in her eyes. Admiration, gratefulness and hope. Three things that had never been connected to him and he never wanted to have that. He could never understand how anyone could possibly equate those qualities with him and he would never admit that the thought scared him, so he shrugged it off and fell back into his convict-self. _

_"Did _not_ know who he was fucking with."_

Jack stayed close to Riddick, careful to work with his movement, not against it. She was thrilled to be working alongside him, something she never thought she would have been able to have done when she was younger and lived with him. Glancing at him, she allowed herself to fall back into memory until he signaled the next move.

_"Hey, Riddick." Jack greeted him from the couch as he walked in through the front door, carrying a package. It was small and Jack knew not to ask, so she just flashed him a smile as she craned her neck forward, her hands deftly twisting and pulling up her hair into a bun of sorts. She only rolled her eyes when he grunted in reply, used to it by now. _

_Standing, she walked over to him and waited for him to toss his jacket on the counter. He never hung it up and it bothered her for some reason, their small apartment never staying quite clean enough. Although it could never be clean enough, in Jack's view. Someone looking for them could knock on an apartment door down the hallway that said 'Shithole B15' and they would say to the person looking for them, "No, sorry, you must be looking for 'Crap Flat H19'." She grinned at this imaginary discourse in her head and didn't realize Riddick was watching her until she moved from behind the hung up coat. _

_"Something you got to say?" He asked, an eyebrow raised. _

_"No, something you need to say?" She countered, walking towards him. She stopped in front of him, looking up at his goggled eyes. "You know I keep the lights almost fucking off for a reason." Jack sarcastically commented, reaching up and taking off the goggles. She was surprised by his tired stare. _

_"Depends." He replied, closing his eyes briefly. Jack was secretly honored knowing that Riddick trusted her enough to actually outwardly feel and look exhausted. She thought he believed it was a weakness to show fatigue. _

_"You need some sleep." She said, concern blatantly obvious in her eyes. _

_"Hmm." He replied, surprising her. No smart comeback? He really must be worn out. _

_"I mean it, let's go," she gently wrapped her hands around one of his forearms, tugging on it to make him follow her. He did so, too tired to do anything else. They walked into their shared bedroom and Jack pulled on his arm, bringing him past her and she let go, shoving him in the direction of the bed. He nearly slipped off the bed as he tried to sit down on the edge of it, but he caught his balance. Riddick was barely able to take off his boots and was almost nodding off by the time he was done. He didn't resist Jack's arms slipping around his waist and pulling him back onto the bed, but he did smile at her exaggerated grunts. _

_"Jeez, Riddick, lighten up on whatever you're eating. You're just about dead weight." She joked, pulling back the sheets and waiting patiently as he maneuvered his legs in. As soon as he looked comfortable, she stood up on the bed and stepped over his form, stepping down from the mattress onto the floor with a thump. She knew he was tired so she just decided to leave him be when his hand caught her wrist. Turning around, she barely registered what was happening until she found herself beneath the sheets, her back pulled up against his front and his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. Smiling softly, she snuggled back into his warm body. _

_"Hmm…Jack?" his voice rang deeply through her. _

_"Yeah?" She didn't bother trying to turn around._

_"How do you undo your hair? It looks more complicated than a triple-max security encryption." He asked, making her laugh lightly. Reaching a hand back, Riddick pulled back slightly to watch her elegant fingers tug at a rope of hair and soon it tumbled loose. He spread it out by himself, nuzzling it before he fell asleep. Jack had never been happier. To think she had wanted to ask him about his job he had had last night. _

Marius bared his teeth in a snarl, but it came out muffled. The cloth bit in his mouth took care of that, as did the spiked cuffs around his wrists, making sure he didn't lash out. They were in the process of tying his ankles together and had him on the floor, his wrists locked behind his back, his body arched into an already uncomfortable position.

"Don't ye be movin' too much, lad." The accented one said, shadowing Marius with his massive form. "Then we can't be bruisin' ye up 'cause we'd kill ye!" He laughed deeply and the other two chuckled along.

"He is right, you realize," the one who had mentioned his knives said, his feet on either side of Marius' body. Leaning down, he took Marius' arm and pushed him to his back, making the spiked cuffs bite into his wrists and back. He didn't dare whimper. "Hm, you are precious." He purred, taking out a blade. Marius thought he was going to gut him when instead he sliced his shirt open from the bottom up. "Ah, and a sculpted young god you are." He commented, standing up.

"Of course he is. Discard the rest of the shirt, will you Hyret?" The third one asked, appearing in view. Marius noted with some confusion that he was very well-dressed, a blue silk shirt over black leather pants and polished boots. He must've seen Marius looking him over, because he addressed him directly. "Excuse my terrible manners, my name is Panther, that is Hyret and over there, that brute is Lukan. Hyret, be more careful! Don't slice the boy!"

"He'll be sliced by the time I'm through with him." He hissed, his sharp blade easily tearing the cloth of his shirt. Soon Marius was shirtless and he tried his best not to shiver.

"But I get first round." Panther said, his gaze resting on Marius' bare chest.

"Ye certainly didn't risk yer neck to ge' tha damn lad!" Lukan yelled, sounding annoyed.

"But I paid you!" Panther shot back and that took down Lukan's argument. But Hyret had other ideas.

"So? You aren't Bellger, you're just his whore who thought he could…I mean _she_ could take over!" He shot back, making Panther clench his fists. Marius couldn't repress the tremors now, it was getting very cold.

"How dare you!" Panther yelled, sounding hysterical. "I was not his whore!"

"'is lovah, then." Lukan corrected.

"So you're still upset over his death! So what? Doesn't mean you get first dibs on this kid!" Hyret yelled back. Marius could barely concentrate but he did see tears in Panther's eyes and suddenly felt guilty. Jack had killed this man's lover. He knew Panther had wanted to use him, but he decided he would try to get Jack to go easy on him. He had lost not an enemy, but a life-long partner.

"If yer both so bitchin' 'bout it, why no' let 'im decide?" Lukan asked, wanting the shouting to stop. Hyret glanced sharply at him, but Panther's head was still downcast, his shoulders shaking slightly.

"Fine." Hyret snapped. Panther just nodded and leaned down and took off Marius' gag gently. "So, who do you want?" Hyret asked, his sinister voice creeping back again.

Marius opened his mouth to speak, but his throat was completely dry and his answer was silence. Yet he wasn't going to go down like this and repressing the tremors of an oncoming fever, rolled in the direction of Panther's feet. The man picked Marius up in his arms, cradling him to his silk-covered chest. No victory taunts were heard as Panther turned around and headed towards the door, toeing it open as he carried Marius through. His vision was starting to blur, but he could just take in a hallway and a few doors. Soon he entered one of them and the room was dimly lit, but very warm. He felt himself being gently laid down on a soft bed and mentally alarmed at the feeling of Panther's hand holding his hip up, but realized that the other was unlocking the sharp cuffs. He fell back as he heard the metal instrument clatter to the floor, barely able to pull out his hands from behind his back.

He fluttered in and out of consciousness and just had enough energy to open his mouth for the cup of cool water that Panther held for him, slowly tipping it backwards. Soon he was alone again, but in a few minutes the other man's body was on the bed again and he lay near Marius, but not directly next to him. Marius didn't care at this point what was supposed to happen, he rolled over to Panther's body and tried to absorb some of its warmth. A blanket was draped over them and just before Marius fell off to sleep, he looked up into Panther's eyes.

"My name's Marius."

Reports had come back that the other two checked safe houses were empty, leaving the one that Jack and Riddick were going to search through the target. Riddick ordered the other two groups to distantly circle the area, telling them to take down anyone who tried to pass through. Jack had shot him an angry glare at this order and after a moment of intense staring, Riddick ordered not to kill them, just tranquilize and hide. They still had a while to go, there were tests being done on the ship and they needed the results.

Ten samples of the surrounding ground had been brought back and they were being tested for any traces of explosives. The last thing they wanted was to walk out onto land mines. As they waited, they sharpened knives, checked guns and ammunition ten times over, took aim practice and spoke quietly to each other. Laiker was talking to Riddick and Jack was left to watch the other men in their group. Her eyes were drawn to Rex, who was gazing at their target. She walked over to him and tapped his elbow, making him look down at her.

"Some 'older sister' I am, huh?" She asked, standing next to him. "Never got to apologize about that stunt I pulled, sorry, Rex."

"It's fine." He replied, his gaze once again drawn to the building.

"What's there?" She asked, gesturing with the muzzle of her gun to the target. Rex looked down at her, obviously very confused. "I mean, you're staring at it as if something or someone you personally wanted is in there. What's there?" She was slightly surprised when Rex looked back, as if judging that everyone there was out of earshot.

"A few years ago, Riddick was still boss then, we docked here. He wanted to meet with Bellger about some half-and-half bounty. You see, there had been two men of the bounty, we had gotten one, they had gotten the other and the bounty wasn't even, so we came to compromise." Rex sighed and looked down at the ground, toeing some of the snow. "Riddick said we got one of the nights off, you know, to let loose. We had been chasing these guys for over two months; it had really worn us down. So lots of the guys went straight to the whorehouses. I…I've never been into that sort of thing and I asked Riddick if I could just wander, but stay near the area. He wasn't too keen on it at first; he liked to have his hunters be with at least another one, never alone. Hunters can always be hunted, he said. Still does sometimes."

"Hey! We get those test results back yet?" Laiker shouted at Rex, making him look up.

"Radio's silent as the grave." Rex yelled back, sounding annoyed at being interrupted. In those few seconds Jack had caught Riddick's silver glance and some knowledge flashed between them.

"Keep going." Jack said, turning her attention back to Rex.

"I wandered near this area, Bellger's territory. I was walking a backstreet when I thought I heard something, like slow movement…wasn't sure at the time. When I looked for it, I found a half-dead body beneath the snow, it was this young guy. I was in a bind, you realize."

"Yeah, you can't bring him back to the ship, he was in Bellger's territory, no way Riddick would let it slide." Jack said and Rex nodded.

"So I picked him up and walked until I found a relatively warm and livable room. Go figure it was the back of a church. I…knocked out the resident priest since he wasn't too happy about having two hunters using his rooms. Anyway, I warmed him up, woke him up and he could only tell me so much, he seemed really afraid of something."

"I'd bet you anything it was Bellger."

"I think so too. He said he had run away from Bellger, more like his bed. This guy, I mean, he was handsome, no doubt about that, kind of unique, like that kid we're here for."

"Marius."

"Right, Marius."

"What happened?" Jack asked, pushing him into telling her more.

"One thing led to another and it just seemed right. Needless to say, I had no mind to leave him with Bellger, he hated him. He definitely wasn't a hunter, that's for sure." Rex admitted, tensing slightly when Jack laid a hand on his arm.

"Victim of human trafficking?"

"Seems so. Now, well, now I wonder if he's still here. In that building right there. He didn't kidnap Marius, that's for sure, I would've recognized him." Rex sounded sure of himself.

"Riddick's not going to let this fly, Rex."

"I know he won't." His voice showed enough grief to make Jack want to cry. "Funny," his voice changed again and Jack looked up, "his name wasn't what he was."

"What was his name?"

"Panther."

Marius came to slowly, relieved that the shivers had stopped and he was under a warm blanket. He moved closer to the source of heat that was wrapped around him, like two arms around his waist and beneath him, a body. At this his blue eyes snapped open and indeed he was on a body, a man who had pulled Marius on top of him, had his arms wrapped around his waist and let him use his chest as a pillow. Memories came back quickly and Marius shut his eyes tightly, at least he had been allowed to sleep before he would be…used. His slight movements must've alerted the older man because the grip around his waist tightened. He lifted his head and watched the older man awaken, the long eyelashes fluttering and his breath quickening. Finally a pair of dark blue eyes looked down into Marius' lighter blue eyes and silence reigned for only a few seconds.

"I trust you slept well, Marius?" His voice sounded exactly like the silk Marius felt beneath him. He nodded in reply, not trusting his voice. He was unsure about how he felt, he didn't want to be this man's whore, not by any length, but he didn't want to be left alone.

Panther tried to move from beneath Marius but the younger man froze and seemed to feel afraid. He turned his head and watched the emotions play out in his eyes, from fear, uncertainty, resoluteness, hope and finally loneliness. He saw in those eyes a younger version of himself. Sitting up, he caused Marius to pull himself up and the blanket fall from his shoulders. Neither knew how Marius' hands had ended up on the older man's chest, but to avoid awkwardness, Panther took his hands and inspected the dried scratch marks of the spiked cuffs.

"Let me up to get a cloth and bandages to clean these." He requested softly and Marius blushed, realizing he had been holding the other man down, by straddling him nonetheless. Pulling his leg back, he let his hands fall limply to his lap as he watched Panther gracefully stand and walk into another room, presumably the bathroom. Marius sighed as he heard water running, the squeak of the faucet being turned and the small droplets of water being wrung from the cloth. He wanted to be back with Jack terribly, but he still felt guilt for what she had done. He forced himself to focus when he heard a cabinet being opened, things being moved around and the click of the cabinet door being shut. Looking up he saw the older man easily carrying a small bowl of water, a cloth, a small container and bandages. Marius moved to help him but was stopped by his quiet command.

"Stay." And he did. He watched Panther carefully set the bowl down on the bedside table, as well as the cloth, container and bandages. He too sat down at the top of the bed and motioned for Marius to come closer. He was hesitant at first, he wanted to trust this man but Jack's training kept his mind chained to reality. Biting his lip he finally decided to go with it, he hadn't been cruelly treated by him as of yet. He imagined that Hyret wouldn't have even let him sleep, much less tend to his wounds.

He sat in front of Panther who sat cross-legged, the bowl now placed like a small nest. He dipped the cloth into the water and wrung it out, the small droplets being the only noise except for the breathing of the two. Marius held out his wrists and Panther set to work cleaning them, his gentle touch and the warm water surprising Marius. Whenever he got hurt Jack would take care of him, but she didn't ever waste time on being gentle. A light kiss to the head had taken care of that every time, but now Marius couldn't even begin to oppose this treatment.

The cuts had spread farther then Marius realized, going half way up his forearm and even the palms of his hands. The white bandages attested to that and he judged Panther's perfect work as the man in question was closing the salve container and standing to put back the medical supplies. When he returned Marius was still sitting on the bed and looked up at him, not pleading or demanding. Panther sat and Marius leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the man's waist and buried his head into the silk-covered shoulder. He wasn't sure how but in a few minutes the shirt had been taken off and they laid down again, falling into another deep sleep.

They were still waiting for the test results. Laiker had finally run out of things to talk to Riddick about and Jack almost wanted to shoot him in the foot for taking so long. She approached him, not needing to make her presence known as he turned to greet her.

"Something up, Jack?" His grumbling voice smoothed over her as she stood next to him.

"Could say that. Got a request, Riddick." She spoke softly, making him face her directly. Sensing the seriousness of her question, he took off his goggles as she perched her black sunglasses on her head.

"Which is…?"

"There is a possibility that a certain man will be in that safe house that is important to one of your hunters. Feel free to kill the rest, but leave this one be." Jack said, watching his silver eyes dart above her head and she turned to see he was staring down Rex, who was oblivious to his glare. Quickly removing a glove, she laid her hand on his face and with gentle pressure, forced him to look down at her.

"I'm not making exceptions. You weren't last night." He growled, feeling suddenly guilty when her hand curled and rested on his shoulder.

"That was last night. Riddick, please, don't kill this one man. That's all I ask." Jack swallowed; she didn't want to say that he would be killing a past lover of one of his best hunters if he didn't agree to this.

A radio crackled and Rex yelled over to them that it was clear; the tests came back negative for explosives. The team started to gear up and Riddick tried to pull away but Jack grabbed his belt through his coat and held him fast. Her fingers twisted in the fur of his coat, clawed in defense. His silver eyes met hers and he knew he wouldn't be able to deny what she wanted. He raised one of his gloved hands and disentangled her hand from his coat and uncurling her fingers with his thumb, turned his head and kissed the open palm. He felt her pulse racing with anxiety over this and he couldn't have her nervous before an attack.

"He'll go free." He whispered and dropped Jack's hand. Sighing in relief, she pulled her glove back on and turned to face the team while Riddick handed out instructions.

"Alright, Rex, you have the floor plans of this house?" He asked, and the tall man nodded and, taking out what looked to be a normal black radio, fiddled with the dial and a 3-D holographic version of the floor plans flickered into view. "Good. There is only one floor to this place; so, we split up into four groups. You two, take quadrant one, you two, take quadrant two, Rex, Jack, you're together, take quadrant three and Laiker, you're with me, we're taking the fourth quadrant. Team one, you have mostly open space, but it's a mechanics room so watch out, lots of things could be hiding there. Team two, you've got computer rooms and the like, once you've cleared those take these discs and take anything you can from their files." Riddick tossed both of them a few discs. "Team three, you've got living quarters. Don't move anything around and stay as silent as the grave. Once you get in your perimeter, shut your radios off and use only hand signals. Laiker, we've got open space but that doesn't mean we're off easy. I bet a few guys will be hanging around and if there are any chases, they'll run to the open space. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their head.

"Good, finish gearing up, check your weapons and we move out." Riddick said, his now-goggled eyes watching Jack as she released and closed her bugnucks a few times. Rex took down the hologram and clipped the radio to his belt and tightened the straps to his gloves. The other four hunters were already ready and Laiker slung his favorite rifle over his shoulder. "Let's get this going. Once you find the kid, send a vibration message. Jack, you've got a word?" He said, raising one of his eyebrows in at her.

"Kill everyone except for Marius and this one guy, his name is Panther. Somehow get the guys names before you kill 'em, if you find a Panther, tranquilize him, knock him out, whatever, don't hurt him and don't kill him. If I find one scratch on Marius or him, all y'all will be speaking eight octaves higher for the rest of your life, is that clear?"

A few nervous chuckles answered in the affirmative.

"Hyret to Panther, Hyret to Panther! Come in Panther!" Hyret's near hysterical voice came in through the radio, waking the sleeping pair. Marius groggily sat up, barely taking in Panther leaning over and snatching the offensive radio off its charger stand.

"Fuck, Panther! I know the kid's pretty but-"

"Panther here." He nearly snarled into the radio.

"We've got a situation." Hyret stated, making Panther roll his eyes.

"No fucking way, you crazy shit. What's-" he was cut off when yells and the easily identifiable rattle of machine guns were heard. Marius was wide awake now and felt nervous when Panther suddenly looked serious. "C'mon, we're getting out of here."

"No, wait!" Marius scrambled to hold Panther down on the bed. "Please! I know these people, they won't hurt us!" He tried in vain to reason with the older man who just sadly shook his head.

"They're here for you, not me." He sighed and pulled on another shirt, something that looked warmer than the silk one he had been wearing not long ago.

"If I just talked to Jack, she would understand! I'll tell her that you didn't hurt me and that you're different then those crazy bastards out there! Please Panther!" Marius stood now, his bandaged hands holding onto one of Panther's arms, who wasn't facing him.

"No! You don't understand, they, she, whoever! They won't let me live!" Panther rounded on Marius and the younger man let go and backed up, wishing he was armed. "Who will protect me when they come for you? Your words cannot! And you are far too weak to even consider physically fighting them! Tell me, who will protect me?"

"I will." A new voice thundered deep into the room, making Marius and Panther snap their heads towards the door. Rex stood there and Marius instantly saw the flash of recognition between the two. The larger man was shoved aside and Marius easily recognized the few choice curses as a figure barely squeezed through the doorframe and the man.

"JACK!" He shouted and she looked up and smiled. He ran into her open arms and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back and kissed the top of his head, taking a moment to pet his hair and familiarize herself with him again. Stepping back, she immediately inspected his bandaged wrists and hands and glared at Panther.

"No, Jack, he didn't do it. These other guys put spiked cuffs on me and he bandaged me, he's a good guy, really he is! Don't let Riddick kill him, please!" He spoke very quickly and Jack just smirked at him.

"Let's get you dressed." She said, shouldering off her pack and rummaging through it, giving him a shirt and thick sweater to wear. The shirt had extended gloves that Marius could use and she was glad she packed that specific one.

"Panther's really-" he was silenced when Jack's hand covered his mouth and then forcibly turned his head to where Rex and Panther were standing. Marius saw the shy touches, hidden smiles and tender glances. He smirked and Jack smacked the back of his head.

"Leave them be, c'mon, we should get going. Rex! We're moving out!" She shouted and they jumped apart, but still stayed near each other. Jack marched past them and Marius followed behind her, grinning when she tossed a shiv back to him. He checked to see that Rex was behind him and he was, with Panther in tow.

"You sick fuck." Riddick hissed, teeth bared in a snarl as he circled his opponent. This guy was a real nut job; there wasn't any beast in him, just pure insanity, plain and simple. This was the one type of guy Riddick hated to deal with, above the whiners in business suits, the wannabes in leather and the sex-driven inmates; it was the real psychos that he hated. He hid a shiver as the other man curled his tongue around a particularly long blade, too long and thin to be a dagger and too short to be a cutlass.

"Oh, how you pretend we don't relate, but we do! Our love for blades, indeed, this is no lust, but something within you does. Ah, is there a flash of recog-" he was cut off by a flying shiv that sliced deep into his shoulder.

"There's your flash." Riddick snarled, noting with internal joy how the other man flinched as another shiv appeared in his hand. Then, in a dramatic show of pain, he wrenched the shiv from his shoulder and Riddick heard the tear of muscle and tendon.

"So quick, so quick. Just like they say." He laughed aloud and flicked the shiv to the floor and it spun across the floor until it stopped short right beneath Riddick's boot.

"Stop talking and start fighting." He requested, not picking up his blade. He had seen hunters fall after touching another's blood. It was a gradual victory for the enemy, a victory through blood transmitted disease, but it was a loss to Riddick all the same.

"As you wish." The wounded man bowed low then slid up into a fighting stance, Riddick simply going into stance. The quietest whisper could have been heard as they waited, waiting for the first move.

Finally the other man leapt at Riddick, who ran at him and ducked at the last moment, sweeping his shiv up in an arc at the exposed belly of his opponent, who twisted out the way and landed into a crouch. Riddick readjusted the grip on his shivs as he watched the other man move, he had been anticipating that Riddick would use that move. He wasn't distracted by the vibration alert on his belt and wondered if he could just slice the guy's head off. He knew this would take a while otherwise.

"Come on, this way!" Jack motioned behind her as Marius, Rex and Panther lined up behind her. She looked in and saw that Riddick was fighting with another man and wasn't doing a good job by the looks of it. He wasn't wounded but he looked tired, Jack could tell.

Riddick suddenly turned, sensing Jack was near. His beast roared in warning but he was more caught in the moment of seeing Jack and at the last moment she appeared in front of him and took the blow. The blow that slashed her skin open from just above her collarbone and diagonally across to just above her chest and she staggered briefly.

"And who the FUCK are you?" She snarled, immediately discarding her pack and coat. Riddick knew this wasn't a good idea but the glare Jack sent him told him otherwise. He backed up and went back to the group she had abandoned.

"Why thank you for asking. I would be Hyret, a natural virtuoso with blades." He bowed deeply and Jack just snorted in disgust.

"Name's Jack and I've got a bone to pick with you." She said back, spinning a shiv in her hand. With that she fell into fighting stance and spit onto the ground, the old natural feeling of fighting in the streets resurfacing.

"You act like an experienced fighter and I am left to wonder if it is true." Hyret commented, talking as if they were kindly conversing over a bottle of aged and valued wine. If they were, Jack would have just grabbed the bottle by the neck, down it all and smash it across Hyret's head. He stumbled back, surprised by the quick movement and blow of the hilt of her shiv to his head. Riddick was fast, but this one was a little faster.

She was out of arm shot by the time he recovered himself and stood not far from him, her eyes calculating any possible moves and most likely subconsciously preparing any moves she might use to defend herself. Shaking his head slightly, he inwardly smirked at his next strategy. He was simply putting an old fighting wolf out of her misery, she was already wounded. But she paid no attention to the wound and just watched him. This bothered him greatly but he didn't show it.

In a few graceful leaps forward he jumped high into the air to come down onto Jack and she easily blocked both of his knife fisted hands, but he tensed his left arm muscle and a blade shot out from his sleeve and slashed the tendons in her right forearm. She cursed and tightened her already vice grip on his fists and pulling him back through the air, released her boot blades and jumped, lifting her feet back to stick the blades into his head. One sliced part of his ear off, the other nearly gouging his eye out. Letting go, she stumbled forward, holding her arm close to her stomach. She wasted no time in tearing part of her undershirt as a bandage, wrapping her arm quickly in the makeshift bandage. She tied the knot with her teeth and the entire time Hyret had barley moved from the ground.

With any other opponent she would've approached him and with a few last sarcastic words, killed him. But this was a rare fighter, one who would fight to the gates of Hell, so she stayed back and waited. By the time she had regained her normal breathing, he was pulling himself up from the ground. Finally he stood and she unsheathed her bugnucks and slid into fighting stance.

"Truly your lover's equal." Hyret managed to say, wiping the blood pouring from his ear with the back of his hand. She couldn't tell if the eye that her blade had narrowly missed was working, but she assumed it was. "Your creativity makes up for his ability to see in the dark, does it not?"

"I'm not here for an analysis." She replied and they suddenly both ran to each other and Jack painfully moved her body to make it look like she was going to jump and he countered it by barely lifting off the ground to gut her, but she fell to the ground purposefully. Sliding on the concrete, she lifted her bugnucks and going right between his legs, slashed the inside of his thighs to ribbons and then catching her hands on his ankles, spun around. Stopping, she also brought down her claws on his Achilles tendons, not caring when he cried in surprised pain as the muscle was snapped. He instantly fell to the ground and she backed up and stood, wanting to stay away from him.

Riddick stood from afar, watching with morbid fascination as Jack took Hyret out, each move carefully planned and executed. He had growled when Hyret had used a hidden blade, something that was common in slams but in hunter fighting was usually deemed as a dirty and low way to injure the opponent. Marius stood beside him, not behind him as Riddick would have expected. He knew that the younger man was mentally going through the same movements that Jack could have used or was going to use. For a moment he felt the sting of jealousy, Jack had clearly spent all of her free time with him to train him to be near flawless, all of her time on him. Another male.

Panther stood next to Rex, the two touching but no affectionate gestures between them. Panther's mind was still reeling from the good fortune that had been bestowed on him. Of all things to have the one man who had truly cared for him to suddenly reappear and promise to protect him. No wonder Marius had had such strong faith in his mentors; they were not bad people as he had thought them to be. Yet he wasn't familiar with Jack and still thought her to be a bounty hunter of sorts, but not many bounty hunters have a child tag along with them. He also did not know that Jack and Riddick were lovers, but the comment Hyret had made just minutes earlier made him think twice.

"Riddick?" Marius asked, his eyes now searching the high steel rafters.

He grunted in reply.

"Where is the rest of your team?"

"Went back. Some injured, got some prisoners, we could deal with this psycho by ourselves." He replied, snarling out the word 'psycho'.

"Yeah, ok, so who's that?" Marius didn't point but Riddick followed his gaze to one of the steel beams that supported the massive structure of the warehouse. A very large man stood, watching the fight between Jack and Hyret and holding what looked to be the same rifle that had shot Jack earlier.

"Rex. Watch the kid." Riddick ordered and moved back, sinking into the shadows. Marius turned to follow but Rex's massive arm stopped him and turned him around.

"Who is that?" He asked again and realized he wasn't going to be answered. Snorting in annoyance, he watched the fight, but was more focused on the dark shadow that was Riddick, moving up the wall and towards the other viewer.

Jack had been right, this man was a fighter until his ashes were re-burned and scattered to the far edges of the known and unknown universe. He couldn't run or even barely walk, but he was still able to throw knives and Jack was beginning to believe his body was made out of blades. Diving, ducking, just keeping enough balance to make it back up again, Jack was beginning to tire. And she knew this is exactly what he wanted. But it was very hard to get close to him to take him out and throwing a shiv wasn't as nearly as easy as it sounded. So she had to either get close enough with her bugnucks or a shiv and both options were getting harder by the second. She wasn't backing down though, and finally decided to go in for the kill.

She had been dodging in a rough circle around him but now she ran in a circle around him, getting closer and closer every step. In one sweep of her claw, she mangled one of his hands. Closing that claw she did a half cartwheel over his form and balancing on one hand, tore apart his other hand with her other claw. Flipping back, she stood and saw that he was unable to throw knives by hand, but it didn't mean he had never practiced throwing them by mouth. But he was dying and they were clumsily thrown, so she barely had to move to duck them. He pulled himself up on his ruined hands, his breath ragged and pained. A once-strong and proud beast dying in dishonorable battle.

She walked to him, unafraid of his now defenseless self. He lifted his hands and clutched to her, incoherent insane pleads of torture spilling from his mouth. Stepping back, his hands fell from her and his head downcast, his tears and blood mixing as it the pool grew around him. Jack stepped directly behind him and sheathing her claws, gently held his head in her hands.

Marius shut his eyes tightly and still looked away, but nothing could've prevented him from hearing the 'crack' that echoed around the steel room. He was surprised when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and pulled him back into another body. He looked up to see Panther behind him, a sad smile donning his face.

"He was a right bastard anyway." Panther said and that served as Hyret's words passing into the next life.

But not all life was lost.

Riddick prowled steadily on a beam, watching the larger man begin to raise his rifle. The snap of Hyret's neck had been heard just seconds before and Jack was beginning to walk away. Approaching behind, Riddick slid a shiv into his hand and waited until the perfect moment. The moment when he would be so involved in his target there was no way he could hear Riddick approaching him from behind. Riddick only wished that Jack knew what was going on.

Just feet away from him now, he raised the shiv to slit him from behind, across the throat. The man had his rifle comfortably resting against his body, his body not nearly as tense as a sniper's should've been. It was clear this man was practiced at this. As his finger began to near the trigger, Riddick moved into action, grabbing the man's face and twisting his jaw to the side and ripping open his throat with the shiv. But he had seen Jack stop and look up over her shoulder, eyes widening as the still fired bullet raced towards her. As the lifeless body fell, Riddick watched in unbelievable horror as Jack froze in place. There was nothing he could do for her and he couldn't even move. Jack didn't see it, but Riddick heard Panther's shout as Marius tore himself away from his grasp and headed straight for Jack. He leapt through the air and with all his body forced Jack to the ground, the bullet missing both of them by mere inches. Just a second later the limp body of the rifleman hit the ground, his blood quickly spilling onto the cold concrete.

Minutes later found Jack in the fierce embrace of Riddick, his nerves still on edge at the thought of losing her. Breathing deeply, she tightened her grip on him, still calming down from the adrenaline rush of what was one of her most challenging fights and almost being killed. But her throbbing arm and chest brought her back to reality and she looked up, her exhaustion evident.

"Thank you, Riddick." She spoke clearly, adding a tired smile. He kissed her forehead in return and turning away from her, slipped an arm around her waist and held her to him. He addressed the remaining people, the tint of relief just audible.

"Alright, this isn't over yet, we've got to get back to the ship. Keep a watch for any trip wires, lasers, anything that could endanger our return. Jack, Marius, you're with me, Rex" he stopped short and glared at Panther, his distaste for the man obvious. "You can go with him."

"Marius. Go with Panther and Rex. I give you full permission to kick them in the shins if they start making out in front of you." Jack said, her voice weak. He wanted to argue, to put down his foot and insist that they not be parted but he wasn't about to argue with Riddick around.

They started ahead, giving Jack and Riddick a moment alone. Her body shuddered as she took a deep breath, making Riddick watch her closely as she walked to where she had discarded her coat and pack, gathering both up in her hands. She made a point not to wince or hiss in pain as she shouldered on her coat and tossed the pack over her shoulder. Her front was still slashed, the diagonal line down her shirt raggedly torn, the bloody injury easily visible.

"We should get going, Riddick. Sooner we get back to the ship the better." She said, breaking him out of his close observation of her. Nodding, he followed her as she made her way out of the scene of carnage that she and Riddick had caused. He could sense she was tired, but he realized that she was naturally a hunter. She didn't need to work to keep her footsteps or breathing quiet, no matter the injury. She made no sound as she walked forward, but he could sense her exhaustion and walked faster to keep in pace with her. Glancing at her sideways, he wasn't surprised to see her eyes closed, her body guiding her, possibly following the sounds of the others footsteps. She started when she felt his hand on her back, propelling her more accurately into the direction of the exit. Jack smiled softly at him, leaning into the touch. She was about to speak when she heard Marius curse.

"Fuck! Jack! Problem!" He yelled, making her break into a jog. Riddick was right after her, staying quiet. They quickly got to where the other three were standing, right before the exit. A small pane of glass in the door gave view of what was outside.

"What's up?" She asked and Marius pushed her to the view.

"Shit. Good thinking looking out there first." She looked suddenly very angered. They had gotten this far and now _this_ to deal with?

"Jack?" Riddick asked, still standing behind them. He inwardly winced as he saw her grim face. This wasn't good.

"Snipers. There's a man down but we can't recognize who it is. We walk out there and we're just target practice for them. We could wait until it was dark, but if that guy's alive out there, he won't be if we wait." Jack reasoned, looking up at Riddick.

"First time I've heard that." He mumbled, stepping forward to see who was down.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

"C'mon Jack, 'wait until it's dark'?" He replayed back to her and she smirked slightly. That would've been the last thing to do on that hell-planet. Her smirk disappeared when Riddick cursed, his fisted hand pounding the wall next to him.

"Who is it?" Rex asked, concerned.

"Laiker." Riddick hissed, turning back to his hunter.

Time slowly passed as Riddick decided what would be done. There was no way they could take out the snipers, maybe a few but that wasn't good enough to get everyone across that open space. Maybe once they got into the smaller streets it would be safer, but that run was easily long enough to get killed in one shot. They all leaned against the walls or sat, thinking madly themselves. Finally, Marius spoke up and he thought Riddick was going to kill him through glaring.

"If they are snipers, then they've got some sort of computer GPS on their guns right?" He asked, looking at Riddick.

"Yeah, they would, to keep in perfect coordinates for their target. A few feet would mess them up entirely." Rex said, raising his eyebrow. What was Marius getting at?

"And they are all Bellger's men?" He asked.

"Yes, we stopped letting hunters in after Bellger was killed. No one else would be up there sniping for a dead leader." Panther supplied, glancing at Jack who didn't notice at the time.

"All Bellger's men, all using his weapons?" Marius asked.

"Look, I don't know what you're getting at but you'd better hurry the fuck up cause-" Riddick snarled, silenced by a smack on his arm from Jack. They all realized he was touchy about not being able to help one of his hunters.

"I can do it. Take me to the computer rooms." Marius said, scrambling up from the floor.

"What?" Riddick asked, suddenly curious.

"They would only get their coordinates from these computers. So, their hard drive chips are in connection with these computers. If I can shut down the program that keeps the GPS updated, I might be able to jam their systems long enough for everyone to run, pick up Laiker and keep going." Marius explained, walking hurriedly towards the rooms. Jack followed him in, growling.

"And you?"

"I'll manage. I can sneak through the shadows. Dusk isn't that far off, by the time I get this, it will just be too dark to see, so they can't hit me."

"Heat vision." Riddick snapped, leaning against the desk that the computer Marius had seated himself in front of was on.

"Fuck that." He snapped back, breaking into the system.

"No, don't fuck that, Marius. You're the reason we're here, so you do have to come back with us. Is there a way you can remote control it?" Jack asked, glancing at the computer.

"Nope. Take way too long." He replied, scanning lines before picking out a few. Riddick watched as he copied, pasted, dragged, decoded and god knew what else.

"I lived in the street the better part of my life, I can run." He commented, stopping for a second while something loaded.

"You didn't have snipers trailing you on the street." Jack muttered, rolling her eyes.

"True." He replied, clicking on a few more things. "Ok, it's almost ready. I'll radio you when it's good to go. Or you can radio me."

"Wait up; we still didn't decide what was happening with you." Jack said, glaring at Riddick as he pushed himself off the desk.

"I'll meet you at the ship. Promise." He said, looking up at her. "Jack, let me do this, please." He asked sincerely and she couldn't refuse this. Growling, she rested a hand on his shoulder and leaned over, placing a kiss on his head. Stepping back, she ruffled his hair.

"Alright, let's go." She said, turning and walking through the door, the automatic sensors closing it after her. Riddick leaned over Marius' shoulder; his breath right on his neck. He wasn't distracted, his eyes flickering back and forth, the screen's bright light reflected off it.

"It doesn't matter that we don't really like each other." He started, but Marius barely acknowledged his voice. He continued all the same. "But we both like Jack. In our own way. In parting, don't fuck this up." He said softly, standing up and walking out the door, his coat sharply flapping as he rounded the sharp corner.

"Yessir." Marius mock-saluted the air and put on the finishing touches, his hand hovering over the 'enter' key.

"Jack, you there?" Marius' voice spoke from the radio on her belt. As she un-clipped it, Rex quietly noted his lack of knowledge on radio-speak. This only earned him a glare from Jack, but he smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"Here, you ready?" She replied, holding down the transmission key.

"Ready when you are." He replied.

"Ok, Riddick, you're going to get Laiker, we run for the nearest small street. One moment." She pressed in for the radio connection again. "Marius, how long can you jam the GPS?"

"The jam itself will only last for some twenty seconds, but if I can re-jam it, the system should crumble, leaving the rifleman to reboot it. That could take maybe a minute, or more. I think you've got time." He explained, sounding sure of himself.

"Good, can you zone in on where they all are?" She asked, glancing at Riddick. He had his eyes trained on Laiker's unmoving form in the snow.

"No one beyond the street you're aiming for." He confirmed after a few seconds. Jack sighed in relief.

"Just what I needed to hear." She let go of the transmission button. "Alright guys, suit up, prepare, we're doing this."

They all readjusted themselves slightly, Riddick's hand trained over the open key for the door. They were silent for a few moments, mentally prepping themselves for this.

"Jack!" Marius' voice came in over the radio. "Look, I just researched the GPS rifle they're using, there's no way I can rejam it after I did it once. You've got once chance for this."

"Alright. We're still doing it." Jack gritted her teeth; they had to do this now. Dusk was settling in, it would be getting too cold for Laiker, if he was still alive. It would also be too dark for Marius to run, the heat vision on the rifles would work better and he would be less able to see.

"We're ready, Jack." Riddick confirmed.

"Good. Marius?"

"Here."

"On the count of three, jam it." She instructed.

"Ready."

"One, two…three."


	17. Chapter 17 Epilogue

**Thanks to these reviewers:**

**Yes, sadly the story is over. This is the epilogue, it is the end. There will be no epilogue of the epilogue. I would like to generally thank everyone and anyone who reads this and then specially thank the reviewers.**

**Wait, before I do that, I would like to thank Caz, my beta. Caz, otherwise known as Iridescent Twilight, has been beta'ing my work. You, my friend, rock. **

**IT – I just thanked you.**

**XinnLajgin – Yeah, that cliffy was a super bitch, I know. Sick puppy in a good way? And how does _that_ work?**

**njrd – Woo! Exciting chapter, I know, glad you liked the fight scenes, they're always my favourite to write, always. Oh, but Riddick just had to be jealous of someone. Hyret really pissed me off, but, good character to create then get killed off. Glad you liked it.**

**TotallyRiddickObsessed - sheepish Yeah, it took me a real long time to post. Sorry!**

**lamyka – Action sequences are, like I mentioned above, my favourite to write, I can make them flow so much easier then any smut scene. Hope you like the end.**

**TrunksgirlBlaze27 – Suspense! Ha!**

**Kookie315 – Well, can't have you hanging off a cliff. Here you go.**

**Twixy – This is the last update, but glad you liked the story. **

**Epilogue **

"Oy! No dirty mouths when Mar is around!" One of the hunters shouted, who was sitting next to Marius. He had taken to eating his meals with all of Riddick's hunters, often contentedly squished between two men with terrible manners. He grinned at his new nickname, shoveling a forkful of rice into his mouth.

"Oh, and what 'cha goin' to do 'bout it?" The other replied jokingly, standing up from his place on the bench.

"I'll tell Rid-"

"Me." Jack said, appearing behind the standing hunter who nearly fell back into his seat. They all loved Jack, she was an amazing chaser, but when it came to Marius, she was as protective as a mother bear. Not something they wanted to mess with.

"Evenin' Jack!" A half-table of hunters shouted from across the room, raising their mugs at her. She casually saluted across the room before turning her attention back to the table she was standing near.

"Marius, when you're finished, meet me up front, will you?" She asked, sounding somewhat serious. His gaze flickered for a moment, but nodded before going back to his meal. Jack turned on her heel and walked back out the door, heading down one of the hallways towards the front. Lost in thought, she barely had time to react when the bedroom door suddenly opened and an arm shot out and dragged her in, the door shutting securely behind her. Had it been someone else, she would've fought 'til death, but she instantly recognized the touch.

Pushed up flat against the door, Riddick attacked her open neck, biting a path down her collarbone and stopping at the end. As he kissed up her neck, finally ending at her mouth, Jack tightly wrapped her legs around his waist. Just as she pushed her body into his, there was knocking on the door right behind her. With a few well-chosen curse words, Riddick gently let her to the ground, glaring at the door already. Jack just finished redoing her hair when she called to whoever was behind the door to open it. It whooshed open to reveal Marius, who smirked slightly at the situation.

"Sorry for interrupting, should I come back later?" He asked, receiving a gentle smack on the head from Jack.

"No, this is serious, c'mere and sit down." She motioned towards the bed and he slowly walked over to it, observing it for a few moments.

"It's not gonna bite you." Riddick said, standing behind Jack and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Beds don't bite, I'm just wondering if it's sanitary. You know, I think I should calculate exactly how much less sleep the two of you have gotten since-"

"SIT!" Jack snapped, fighting the urge to scold him. Grinning, he sat on the bed, looking up and Riddick and Jack. Something was up and he didn't like the looks of their faces.

"So, what's up?" He asked, wondering what was going on.

"Marius, when we bought you back to the ship, we were forced to use the machinery to fix you up. Part of its workings make it take a blood sample and analyze it, to make sure you don't have any blood transmitted diseases. Also, if we use part of that program, we can discover through the DNA coding who your parents are." Jack stopped for a moment, letting this new information settle in. "We did. Marius, I have no idea what happened to you before we met, but you're no street urchin."

"Who am I?" He asked, his usually confident voice almost shaking.

"First, you're an original Earth child. Second, you come from a long line of boxers, professional fighters. This isn't surprising, but your mother-"

"Was a prostitute." He coldly filled in, making Jack almost wince. Whatever sexual desires she had had a few minutes ago were now gone. Riddick tightened his grip on her and she knew he wasn't pleased with where this conversation was going.

"And now a well-respected scientist. Marius, I'm telling you this because you have the chance to live a normal life now. We can take you to her; contact her, whatever you want." Jack reasoned, but it looked like he wasn't quite sure.

"Look, we're trying to give you the life neither of us had or could have ever had." Riddick filled in and then it made sense to Marius.

"But I'm happy here, do you want me gone?" He sounded shattered and Jack wanted to hit herself for doing this.

"No, we don't. I was doing this so I wouldn't be hiding the truth from you. It is your choice, not ours." Jack reasoned, her upset voice whipping at Riddick's inner beast. That was the last thing he wanted to hear.

"I…I will think on it." Marius replied, looking at the floor. He stood up, not making eye contact with either Jack or Riddick. They both watched him leave the room, the door closing behind him. Jack moved away from Riddick and sat heavily on the bed, resting her head in her hands.

"Fuck, Riddick, I screwed that up." She said, lifting her head and looking at him. He sat down next to her and with one hand, rubbed Jack's tense neck, trying to get her to relax.

"You did something for him that I probably wouldn't have done for you." He said, making Jack look sideways at him in confusion. "When we traveled together, if I had found out who your parents were, I wouldn't of have told you." He explained and Jack nodded.

"Why?"

"That's the difference between you and Marius. When we traveled and lived together, it quickly got to the point where we couldn't of have been separated, not without pain. Marius…he easily adapts to other people's company, yes he would miss you, but he would re-adapt, like he raised himself to do." Riddick wasn't looking at Jack, who was intently watching him, but staring ahead at the wall, his gaze a little unfocused.

"You didn't quite answer my question." Jack said, raising an eyebrow.

"Why? I said why. We couldn't of have been separated, I couldn't of have lived without you at the time." He said, wondering where this blatant honesty was coming from. He had to check it in the future.

"'At the time'?" she questioned. Oh Jack, she never missed a word.

"We obviously separated, but-"

"It was like going into withdrawal." Jack finished, leaning into Riddick's shoulder. He fell back onto the bed and she moved in closer, resting her head on his shoulder, her hand on his chest.

"Of the worst kind." He added, looking down at her head and feeling that he was, she looked up at him, her eyes blinking owlishly. Their lips met in a gentle, compassionate and forgiving kiss.

Riddick hoped they would never have to bring up that period of separation again.

"GO GO GO!" Rex shouted and Marius shot out of the room as fast as he could, disc in hand. They ran together, Marius pulling out his gun and firing a few bullets into the window, effectively shattering it. Without thinking twice, Marius ran and leapt through the window, Rex right behind him. Some fifteen feet beneath them they landed on an outside walkway of the same building. Just as they landed, an explosion rocked the building, papers, desk parts and chair flying out of the already broken window. Rex reached out and grabbed Marius, wrapping his arm around his waist, tugging him towards him so he could shield his body from falling object.

Soon it quieted and just as the pair opening their eyes, a computer monitor crashed down right next to them, right over where Marius had lain seconds before. Gulping, Marius stood up, helping up the taller man.

"Death by computer monitor; that would've been embarrassing." He said, grinning at Rex who rolled his eyes. Marius' eyes grew cold and serious, narrowing at something behind Rex. Rex turned around and cursed as he saw police cruisers speeding towards them, hovering in the air.

"Now look, we were told we can't kill anyone." Rex began to reason, knowing Marius' need to escape would overpower any control he had on himself.

"What we did isn't legal and you know how the cops think about hunters, 'specially Riddick's. So, this isn't legal, murder isn't legal, so let's just put 'em together." Marius replied, training his hand gun on the cruisers.

"You can't even hit them with a handgun!" Rex exclaimed, his body tensing as he heard shots fired from the gun. To his surprise they did hit, but not the intended target.

"Machine tried to kill me, so I kill a machine back. Murder, Rex, murder of machine, not human." He smirked, watching the cruisers spiral down towards the street, the riders floating down slowly from their escape. "We should go."

Rex considered picking the lock on the glass door, but Marius just stepped in front of him and broke the door down with a strong kick. He followed the shorter man and in minutes they were out on the street, running towards the port. Grabbing the radio from his belt, Rex called in to get ready for takeoff and to open the hatch.

They weren't being chased, but the faster the better. The hatch door was barely open by the time they reached it and Marius dove in, scrambling up into the ship, Rex following suit. The door shut behind them and they stood up, catching their breath.

"Let's move this bitch!" A familiar voice yelled from the main room. They walked in and found Laiker seated in the captain's chair, turning around to grin at them as they entered.

"We got it!" Marius crowed cheerfully, sitting down into one of the co-pilots seats. Sticking his hand in his duster, he took out the disc and set it on the control panel of the small ship.

"Good, let's go home." Laiker said, powering up the ship. Marius sat back, relaxing in the duster, it was originally Jack's and she had given it to him for his eighteenth birthday. He had been suspicious at first, wearing a woman's coat, but then she had told him that it had first belonged to Riddick.

He glanced over at Laiker, who was focused on getting them out of the port. Sighing, he remembered the day quite a few years ago when everything had changed for Laiker.

_"Go!" Marius shouted, yelling into the radio as he sat in front of the computer. Over the radio connection he heard them charge out of the door, running across the darkening lot. The connection was lost and he was left alone. He had to wait until the jam was finished, just to see if he could start a new one. Maybe he couldn't jam, but a GPS virus could do the trick. He immediately began to work for it, unaware of what was going on outside. _

_Riddick scooped Laiker from the ground, holding him against his chest. He was relieved to hear a heartbeat, although it was faint. Panther, Rex and Jack were right with him as they neared the closed-in street. They had made it to there, but they kept running as fast as they could, towards the port. Jack had made a connection with the ship and told them to open the door. _

_Just as they ran through the port, gun shots rang out, a bullet whistled right by Riddick's ear. He quickly glanced behind to see Bellger's men lined up right near the entrance, using handguns and rifles. They kept running and just as they ran up into the ship, he realized Jack wasn't with them. He shouted to Rex and gave Laiker to him and turned to see her about thirty feet away, firing a handgun at them, each shot on target. The men began to fall but one ran forward at Jack. _

_She dropped the gun and released her bugnucks, jumping straight at him. Jack easily gutted him, his lifeless and intestine-less body collapsing to the ground, organs and blood spilling on the concrete. She turned and ran towards the ship, bullets crunching cement beneath her feet, whistling past her head. She dove into the ship, the door closing up behind her, the locks sealing. Jack stood right up and suddenly paled._

_"Shit! If Marius comes to the ship, they'll still be there! They're going to shoot him down, Riddick!" She cried aloud, panic evident. _

_He had gotten to the ship, not without Riddick's help. He had armed his men and they snuck out the ship and took down each one of Bellger's men in the port. They were all safely together, but not without loss. _

_Laiker had sustained terrible injuries. The sniper's bullet had hit him right in the spine, paralyzing him from the waist down. It was going to change his life and as soon as he woke he begged Riddick not to let him off. Riddick wouldn't hear of it, he would never get rid of one of his best hunters. As a result, Laiker had stayed, but always within the ship. _

"We can take off now." Laiker confirmed, pulling back the lever. Marius shook himself from memory and glanced around and found that Rex had disappeared.

"Rex?" He questioned and Laiker grinned.

"Lover boy won't be back for a while." He said while winking at Marius.

"But Panther stayed back, is he cheating on him?" He asked, suddenly confused.

"Nope, old kitty snuck on. Why do you think Rex looked so tired every morning?" Laiker smugly asked, easily pulling out of the port and through the atmosphere. When they had reached outer space he put the ship into hyper drive and turned to Marius.

"You alright, Mar?" He asked, watching the younger man's face stay impassive. He had definitely grown up and become an object of lust and affection for both men and women. He had kept his long hair, always keeping it tied back or braided. His blue eyes froze people in their places; they showed how he felt as if they were windows into his mind. Right now, he saw masked worry.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied, shrugged off his duster. He neatly laid the long coat over the back of his chair, settling down again before looking at Laiker.

"Really, what's up?"

"Not much…really. Just worried about Kirsten." He said, his eyes becoming soft at the thoughts of his young niece. At first he had insisted that he wasn't old enough to be the uncle of one of Riddick and Jack's children, but she had insisted to the threat of death.

"She'll be ok; I bet it's just a bad form of something she caught outside. You know how wild she is, not going out in good weather and purposefully going out when it's raining or snowing without any proper clothes." Laiker replied, not going to reveal that Kirsten's fever had worried him too.

As if the gods had heard them, a bleep for an incoming transmission came in. Laiker checked it and told Marius it was from Jack. Opening it up, the holographic screen flickered into view in front of the window, filling the background to Jack's face with stars.

"Got the quick message. You didn't cause too much mayhem, did you?" She asked and Marius shook his head.

"A few lost pieces of office supplies, nothing that can't be replaced. Well, besides the information on the disc." He replied.

"Good, Riddick will be glad to have it back." She said, sounding relieved.

"Care to tell me what's on it?" He asked, surprising Jack. "You dragged me out of bed at two in the morning, tossed me on this ship and then I was just told to get this disc back and that's it." He explained and Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Laiker, that was your job." She sounded annoyed.

"Didn't want to get him anymore emotional on the subject, you know how he gets with stuff related to you guys." He said and Jack just rolled her eyes.

"It was information about where our bases are and more importantly, who is in our immediate family." She said and tensed as she saw Marius jump from his seat.

"You mean information about you and Kirsten!"

"I think I might've not told you on purpose," Jack mused, ignoring his outburst. "All that matters is that you've got it back. Oh, someone wants to say hi." She said, looking to the side and picking up a young girl, sitting her on her lap.

"Uncle Mar!" Her voice was energized and excited.

"Kirsten! Feeling better?"

"Yeah-huh, I am! Daddy was so pissed at me, though."

"Watch your mouth! Who said that in front of you?" Jack scolded her daughter, who grinned at her.

"He told me not to tell you. Nyehnyeh!" She giggled before turning back to Marius. "You gonna be home soon?"

"Yeah, I am. We can go out and play if you want." Laiker smiled, it was more like 'We are going to go out and play when I get back, no questions asked and no, you can't say no.'

"Yeah! We can go swimming!" She bounced on Jack's lap.

"Uh…yeah, maybe if the tide isn't too harsh…" Marius trailed off, not wanting to say that the island Riddick had chosen for his main base had shark-infested waters.

"Woo!" Kirsten yelled, suddenly protesting when she was picked up off her mum's lap. "Daaaaaad!" He heard her complain. Jack's face came into view again and he could just hear Riddick talking to Kirsten in the background.

"Got to put her to bed, it's getting late." Jack explained, smiling.

"We'll be there around dawn if we stay in hyperdrive." Laiker supplied, and Jack nodded.

"Good, goodnight guys, get some rest." She said and suddenly she moved and Riddick's silver eyes pierced them, even through the holographic image.

"Get your asses back here, I'm taking you all for granted way too much, these new hunters are doughy pieces of shit." His gravelly voice sounded annoyed and tired and he winced as Jack's hand angrily smacked the back of his head.

"Yes sir." Laiker and Marius replied at the same time. "Have a pleasant evening, boss." Laiker added, smirking as they heard Kirsten 'oohing' over the fact her dad had just cursed twice in front of her.

"Once I get this demon-child to bed, I'll be having a great night." Riddick smirked and was glad Jack was out of earshot. Riddick cut the connection and the holographic image faded from view.

"Let's go home," Laiker said, resting a hand on Marius' shoulder. He squeezed it before dropping his hand to the control panel. "You're part of the family, you know."

"Yeah, I guess I am." Marius replied, looking out at the stars speeding past them. There was all this outer space, empty, lonely and black space, but unlike before, when he was a child living off the street, he had a home and family that cared for him. When he was young, he had the space as his companion and now that he had a real family, it had become his companion and territory. He was an evolved hunter, from street to space.

HEY – I know I've said this many times before, but I am going to start writing a sequel to Keeping Faith, the update will be…whenever, but keep an eye out for it. Thanks again.


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